


I'm that broken heel, unsteady and ready to drop

by brianmaybrianmay



Category: Generation Kill
Genre: Broadway Star Nate Fick, First Kiss, First Time, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Getting Together, Kinky boots, M/M, One Night Stands, Smut
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-15
Updated: 2020-07-15
Packaged: 2021-03-05 00:27:49
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 24,643
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25285369
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/brianmaybrianmay/pseuds/brianmaybrianmay
Summary: Whatever it was that Brad had expected to find in his pigeon hole, it certainly wasn't two garish red tickets to what was apparently a musical named Kinky Boots, plus a note written in Ray's chicken scrawl that said'show starts at seven thirty, I'll pick you up at seven xoxo'.
Relationships: Brad Colbert/Nate Fick
Comments: 20
Kudos: 79





	I'm that broken heel, unsteady and ready to drop

**Author's Note:**

> thank you so much for reading! 
> 
> this is 100% Stark Sands fault, because I watched the original Broadway Kinky Boots show and I couldn't get this story out of my head after seeing him in it. As always, this is based off the characters from Generation Kill and not the real life Marines.

"Sergeant Person, interrogative. What the fuck are these tickets for, and why do you think I would ever attend something like this?" 

After what had already proved to be a somewhat testing morning, with the fact that his car wouldn't start this morning and so he'd had to take the bike to work - which he'd usually have never done, since he liked to be a little more careful with it than he would be with his car - and then having to go straight to the C.O's office when he eventually got in to deal with Schwetje's most recent fuck up, Brad had gone back to the Gunnery Sergeant's office afterwards to find a letter in his pigeon hole that was addressed from Ray. Figuring that he was far too busy to even remotely touch whatever the fuck was in that envelope, he'd shoved it back into the pigeon hole and decided he'd deal with it later. 

They were four years post-OIF. A lot had changed since then, he'd changed a lot since then. For starters, he'd recently been promoted to Gunnery Sergeant. He had to admit, the pay was pretty good - better than a Staff Sergeant's anyway - and the work wasn't too bad most of the time. Most of the time being the operative in that sentence. Since he'd opted to stay with Bravo Two after his promotion, it unfortunately meant that he'd be dealing with Captain Schwetje a lot more than he had previously done. He'd thought the man was an idiot beforehand. Now? He was starting to realise that there was no hope for any of them. Still, working directly with the man meant that he could at least try to prevent some of his fuck ups. He hadn't been able to fix this one though, which was why he'd spent two hours on the phone this morning trying to reorder the correct ammunition for their rifles, and cancel the bogus order that Schwetje had already made. Whatever, he had the patience of a fucking saint. 

Eventually he'd managed to clear things up, and he'd printed off the invoices and confirmation of the new order plus the cancellation of the old one to give to Schwetje, before heading back to the office. Once he'd scanned the documents and emailed them over to him, he'd figured he'd bite the bullet and have a look at whatever it was that Ray had left in his pigeon hole. 

Whatever it was that he'd expected to find though, it certainly wasn't two garish red tickets to what was apparently a musical named Kinky Boots, plus a note written in Ray's chicken scrawl that said _'show starts at seven thirty, I'll pick you up at seven xoxo'._

Despite the fact that a quick glance at the clock told him that Ray should be down at the motor pool - and so shouldn't even have his cellphone on him - he figured he'd chance it and call him from the office phone. It could probably wait, but mostly he just wanted to know what the fuck was going through Ray's head when he'd thought buying those tickets would be a good idea. It turned out his suspicions were right though, because the phone had barely rung out twice before Ray answered, and he laughed when he heard Brad's question.

_"Honestly, homes. Trust me, you're gonna want to see this."_ Ray told him, his voice loud over the sounds of the motor pool in the background. 

"It's a musical, Ray. I don't even watch musical movies on the television let alone spend my Friday nights seeing them in the theatre." 

_"Brad, seriously. You will thank me when it's over."_

"I highly doubt that. Stage shows are for liberal, pussy, dicksucks that couldn't find their own cocks if pointed directly towards it. The fact that you're so convinced I need to see this makes me think that you're familiar with this show, and therefore means you fall into that category of pussy dicksucks. Frankly I'm not surprised." He groused.

_"Yeah, baby. I love it when you talk dirty to me."_ Ray chuckled, _"Please? For your pal Ray-Ray. It's one evening, and then I'll never ask you to socialise with me outside of work again, okay?"_

"I will be reminding you of this moment the next time you try." He told him, before sighing and pinching the bridge of his nose, "Fine. Pick me up at seven. Three conditions though. One, you do not tell anybody on base that I'm willingly coming to see this with you. Two, I'm never attending musical theatre with you again. Three, you're driving, because I am not going to suffer through this sober. Are we clear?" 

_"As fucking crystal. Trust me, homes, you're gonna love it."_ Ray chirped, before hanging up the phone. 

He sighed and rolled his eyes, pinching the bridge of his nose again against the headache he could feel coming on. Fine. He'd go see this stupid fucking show with Ray, and then that would be the end of it. As annoying as Ray could be, he had to admit that he was pretty good for keeping his word. He'd promised Brad that he'd stop at him about it if he went with him tonight, and so he had no reason not to believe him. Still, that didn't mean that he particularly wanted to go. Musicals.. the whole idea of live stage shows were literally the last thing on earth that appealed to him. 

He yawned as he switched his computer back on, opening up his emails to find a message from Schwetje that was time stamped from four minutes ago asking "does that mean we've gotten double the order of ammo now?". He sighed as he ran his fingers through his hair, wondering just how deep their C.O's stupidity ran. Clearly the documents he'd sent over to him pointed out that one of the orders had been cancelled. Resigning himself to the fact that he was probably going to spend the day trying to sort this out - despite the fact that the issue had technically already been sorted - he sighed as he opened up a new email so that he could explain the situation. 

  
-x-

  
By the time Ray showed up at his door that evening - at six minutes past seven - he'd worked himself into even more of a mood than he'd already been in all day.

His day hadn't gotten any better after the start of his shitty morning, and so as the day had gone on, he'd found himself brutally criticising every one of his decisions that had lead to him having to attend this musical with Ray tonight - up to, and including, joining the Marine Corps in the first place. Still, he'd told him that he'd go, and so he knew he'd never have heard the end of it if he'd bailed.

He was half hoping though, that since Ray hadn't shown up at his doorstep at seven on the dot, that this was all part of some elaborate prank the younger man was pulling on him and that he wouldn't show up at all. He knew he wouldn't get quite that lucky though, and the doorbell rang a matter of minutes later. When he opened the door, it was to find Ray on his doorstep as he'd expected, shit eating grin in place, "Well, are we excited?" He asked with a grin. 

"I've never been less excited for anything in my life, I hope you know that." He groused as he stepped out of the house, shoving his keys into his pocket once he had locked the door behind him. 

"Believe me, you won't be saying that in two hours." Ray told him as they walked back out to where he'd parked his car on the street, and he couldn't help but just roll his eyes in response. As much as he was happy to bitch the younger man out for hours on end, he had to admit that he was his best friend. They'd been through the shit together, but Ray was fiercely loyal to a fault and he'd stuck by Brad's side for the last six years. He'd recently gotten the bump to Staff Sergeant - and while he'd never actually admit it - he was proud as hell of him. If he was being honest, he was surprised that Ray had stayed in the Corps this long, especially when he had always insisted that he wasn't a career Marine, and yet here they were. He'd admitted to Brad a while back that if he stayed that long, he was thinking of going the First Sergeant route - whereas Brad was a little more drawn to the role of Master Sergeant. Still, that was a while away anyway, so it was nothing that needed thinking about yet. 

He dropped into the passenger side seat of Ray's car, taking a moment to let his disdain at his choice of vehicle show, "Ray, you're on a Staff Sergeant salary now, correct?"

"Yup."

"So why the fuck are you still driving this piece of shit '99 Toyota Corolla?" 

"Carla likes it." He answered, before shooting him a grin and a shrug, "I don't know either, homes." 

Carla was Ray's girlfriend from back home. At first, he hadn't even been sure that she'd actually existed, considering the fact that Ray was a backwoods hick from Shithole, Missouri. But when the younger man had actually made the decision to go career, she had moved up to California so that the two of them could buy a house off-base together - and Brad actually had to admit that he liked the girl. She was smart as hell, and certainly able to keep up with any one of the Marines that both he and Ray knew. 

"Speaking of Carla actually; this is all her fault, by the way. So you should totally let me off the hook and hold your grudge towards her instead."

"How is it her fault?"

"She bought tickets to this and dragged me to see it the other night. And believe me, I had pretty much the same reaction as the one you're having right now. But honestly, dude, I couldn't fucking believe it when the show actually started." 

He rolled his eyes, sighing under his breath as he glanced in Ray's direction again, "Will you please just tell me what this is about? Why you're so desperate for me to see this?" 

"Absolutely not, it's a surprise." 

It was only another couple of minutes before they pulled into the parking lot of the theatre, and Brad sighed in disdain as he trailed into the building after Ray. Apparently the musical that they were attending tonight was a big deal, and the posters decorating the lobby they were stood in only further proved that fact. Frustratingly though, the posters didn't give away anything as to why Ray was so desperate for him to see this show. They were adorned with the name of the musical - the K stylised as a pair of the boots themselves - in glittery red writing the same as on the tickets, but that was really it. He had no idea what the musical was about, who was in it, and frankly? He didn't care. He knew he probably could have googled it when he was still sitting in his office earlier, but like he'd said, he didn't care. 

It was two hours, and then he'd never have to sit through musical theatre again.

Once Ray had had their tickets checked, he turned back to Brad to point him in the direction of the bar, "You go get whatever alcohol you need to get you through this, and I'm going to go get a program." 

With a last withering look in Ray's direction, he figured the bar was probably the best idea right now. He'd already warned the younger man that he was not suffering through this ordeal sober, and he certainly didn't plan to change his mind on that now. So he ordered them a beer each - figuring that he'd take at least a little pity on Ray and get him one beer. On top of that though, he did order two glasses of whisky on the rocks - one of which he drank back in one go, and the second he slowly sipped while he waited for Ray to get back. 

He returned after a couple of minutes, accepting the beer that Brad passed over to him, although he grinned and held the program out of reach when Brad held his hand out for it, "Nuh uh, you don't get this yet. It'll ruin the surprise." He told him, dropping down onto the barstool next to the one Brad was sat on. 

"I swear, Ray. Whatever this surprise is better be worth it, or I'll make you regret it for the rest of your life."

"I'm quivering in my boots, really." Ray quipped, draining half of his pint before glancing down at his watch, "Come on, we gotta get to our seats." 

After quickly finishing off the rest of his pint, he rose to his feet and followed after Ray, since he was the one both with their tickets, and who knew where they were going. He'd lived in Oceanside for most of his adult life, and yet he'd never actually set foot inside this theatre before today - a fact that he was actually rather proud of. He meant what he'd told Ray this morning though, if any of the other men in their unit found out that they'd gone to this tonight, he'd make Ray regret it for the rest of his life - which would be extremely short, once Brad was finished with him. 

He followed Ray down the aisle once they were inside the actual theatre, sidestepping other peoples' legs who were already sitting down when they finally got to the row that their seats were in. Eventually Ray found their seats, and he sighed as he dropped down next to him. They were close enough to the front of the stage actually, only six or so rows away from being right at the very front. From here, he was pretty sure that they'd be able to see perfectly - which was unfortunate in itself. 

"So." Ray leaned over to nudge his elbow with his own just as the show was about to start, "Since you've done nothing but threaten me since this morning, what do I get when you're proven totally wrong and your mind is blown away by this?" 

"Unlikely." He groused, flashing a quick warning look in the younger man's direction, "I'll let you live. That's about as far as I'm willing to go." 

Ray just smiled brightly at him, nudging at him again with his elbow, "I knew you loved me really." He chirped, just as the lights went down, "Now, shut the fuck up and watch the show." 

He sighed as he slouched further down into his seat, noting with irritation that these seats weren't exactly made for somebody of his stature. Ray seemed perfectly happy in his seat - being the growth-stunted little whisky-tango fuck that he was - while he had to uncomfortably fold his legs so that his knees weren't pressed hard into the seat in front of him. Fucking unbelievable. Just another thing he had to be pissed off about having to be here at all tonight.

He sighed as he propped his elbow on the armrest between his and Ray's seats, resting his cheek in his open palm - he was already bored, and he wasn't about to pretend otherwise - as the show came to a start. On stage, an elderly man walked out with a boy, the two of them speaking about what was apparently the father's shoe factory and how he wanted the son - Charlie - to take over the factory from him. The son's attitude towards shoes seemed to equal his own attitude towards this entire show, which was to say that he had little to no interest. Once they broke into song for the first time of the night, he shot a scathing glance in Ray's direction, only to find him watching him with that same shit-eating grin. 

Whatever, it was two hours. That was plenty of time to zone out and to come up with all of the creative ways that he could kill Ray once this was over. 

Once the first song had ended, the lights dimmed again while the audience clapped - obviously so that they could quickly rearrange the stage for the next scene. When the lights brightened again after a moment, the audience clapped again as a young man and woman walked out onto the stage. Obviously these were supposed to be the main characters, and he was pretty sure that the man - who he guessed was in his late twenties - was supposed to be an older version of the young boy who'd been in the previous scene. Not that he gave a fuck really, who he was supposed to be. Well, he didn't, right up until he realised that he recognised that head of blonde hair and the lean build of the man on the stage. 

_Holy fucking shit._

Leaning forward in his seat, he was pretty sure that his surprise was fairly obvious on his face as he realised that he was looking down at his former Platoon Commander.

"Ray." He deadpanned, barely able to tear his attention away from the man on stage long enough to actually look back at the younger man, "Is that Nate?" 

"You fucking bet it is." Ray chirped, expression slightly hysterical as he shoved at Brad's shoulder. 

Un-fucking-believable. Nate had left the Corps three years ago, and after the odd email here and there exchanged between the two of them, the younger man had sort of fallen off the map. He'd moved out East with plans to go back to school once he'd settled down in Boston, and that much was really the last that he'd heard of him. Their former Platoon Commander hadn't even crossed his mind in a very long time, and now he was stood on the stage in front of him, speaking in a bad attempt at an English accent to the woman who was supposed to be playing his girlfriend. 

"Does he sing?" He asked, glancing down at Ray again. Well yeah, considering the show was a goddamn musical - and the fact that the woman who was playing Nate's girlfriend had currently just burst into song - he was pretty sure he was accurate in his assumptions that Nate himself would have a song or two before the night was over. 

"Yeah, he fucking sings. He sings, he dances, and wait until you see him in the fucking finale. I swear, I nearly shit myself." 

"Huh." He murmured, sitting back against the back of his seat again. Honestly? He still couldn't really wrap his head around the fact that the man he was watching on the stage was actually Nate. 

He also didn't like to think of the fact that seeing Nate here brought to the surface all kinds of thoughts that he'd worked hard to push down on. He and Nate had been.. well, they'd been close. Nothing had ever happened between them, but it wasn't for lack of wanting on his behalf. Nate had been his commanding officer though, and despite the fact that the younger man had always looked to him for guidance, that he'd always smiled softly at Brad's stupid jokes, that he'd always listened and offered a soothing comment whenever Brad was frustrated.. it didn't mean that things could be like that between them. 

Once they had gotten home from Iraq, things had definitely changed. Nate had left the Corps and had moved back to Boston, and for a while? He'd considered maybe tentatively reaching out to see if his feelings were returned. He'd never had any indication from Nate that that was the case though, and he didn't want to end up losing one of his closest friends because of it. And so he'd never brought it up. They'd kept in touch for a while through email, the odd phonecall here and there, a visit now and again when Nate was in town, but eventually the emails started to come less frequently. He wasn't sure who had sent the last email, all he knew was that the last time he'd heard from Nate had been over a year and a half ago. It had been months since he'd even thought about him. So yeah, it was a bit of a shock to the system to see him here tonight - especially to see him as the lead actor in this stupid fucking musical. 

He turned his attention back to the stage after that - unwilling to try and unpack everything that was going through his mind right now about Nate and about what could have been if things were different - because suddenly, he found he had a lot more interest in the show than he had only five minutes previously. 

Fuck. Ray was never going to let him hear the end of this.

On stage, Nate and the woman - who's character was apparently called Nicola - shared a scene that involved them moving into their new flat in London, until Nate got a phonecall. Judging by the scene that followed, it wasn't hard to tell that the phonecall was supposed to have been to tell him that his father had died, and that he was now to take over the factory. Once they transitioned into the next scene, which was apparently supposed to be set in a bar while Nate caught up with a childhood friend, he rolled his eyes as the other actor began singing. Okay, so obviously he knew that it was a musical, and despite his slight interest in the show now that he'd seen who was in it, he still couldn't say he was all that fond of the singing.

That was until Nate started singing though, and he raised his eyebrows as Nate tipped his head towards the other man and sang, _"Remember the yard behind the pub, where we'd run and play?"_

Okay. Shit. Nate was good. He was really fucking good, he had to admit, when the spotlight shone on him alone and he turned to the crowd, _"Everybody's telling me what I need to be. Change with the times, move to London town, or live out a legacy. Well, maybe this time, I take a chance, leap into the vast expanse. Maybe this time, I seize my destiny. My destiny."_ He sang before trailing off with a sceptical expression, to tittering laughter from the audience. Damn, he'd heard Nate quietly singing under his breath from time to time back in Iraq, but he'd never heard enough of it to realise just how good the younger man was. As he'd belted out the last note, he had to admit that he was intrigued. 

From there on, the show continued. Nate met and befriended a drag queen named Lola, and the two decided to work together to save the factory - investing in the production of 'kinky boots' to market towards other drag queens. They went from song to song as Lola insisted that _'Sex is in the Heel'_ when Nate showed her his first design for a boot, all the way up to when Lola reintroduced herself to Nate as Simon and they sang about their conflicting feelings towards their fathers in _'Not my Fathers Son'_. Ray had finally given him the program that he'd bought earlier - and he understood now why he'd held it back from him, considering the second page was an introduction of the cast and characters, and had a photo of Nate in it. He was somewhat able to keep up with the story and the songs now that he actually had the program to flick through though - and horrifyingly, he found himself tapping his boot on the ground to the beat of the music occasionally.

Eventually Nate and Lola had their first pair of kinky boots ready to go, and what looked like the entire cast of the show joined them on the stage in a song titled _'Everybody Say Yeah'._

He couldn't help but notice though, as he watched Nate up on the stage, that he looked fucking _happy._ His mind was drawn back to the end of their tour in Iraq, when Nate had been criticised by the other officers for every decision that he'd made. It had evidently started to get on top of him at one point, with him lashing out at Brad and the other team leaders in that quiet competent way of his. It hadn't taken him too long to unfuck himself from that, but by the time they were being pulled out of Iraq and sent back to the States, Nate had just seemed so defeated and so beaten down by the whole thing. It broke his fucking heart, especially now as he watched him singing and dancing up on that stage, bright smile splitting his face. 

Fuck. Obviously he'd been sad to see Nate go when he'd left the Corps - for a multitude of both professional and selfish reasons - but he saw now that leaving the Corps had been the right decision for him. This was obviously what Nate was meant to be doing, and he really couldn't find it in himself to fault him for it when it was clear just how happy Nate was. 

With the end of the song came the curtain descending, obviously signalling the end of act one. It would have been rude at this point not to clap along with the rest of the audience, and when he glanced back in Ray's direction, the younger man looked sickeningly smug. 

"Well? What did I fucking tell you?" He asked, playfully shoving at Brad's elbow. 

"I won't admit that you were right, I hope you know that." He told him with a raised eyebrow, before sighing and rolling his eyes, "Fuck, he's really good though." 

Ray's grin was bright, and he rolled his eyes at Brad's choice of words, "Right? I told you you'd love it."

"I don't love it. I will never love it, and I'm still adamant in the fact that I am never attending another musical for as long as I live. But I will admit that, as surprised as I am - Nate is really fucking good." He conceded with a shrug. As little as he wanted to give in and agree with Ray, he had to admit that he was right about this. Nate had had a few solo songs so far, but they hadn't really been anything major - which he had to say he was a little disappointed in. Either way though.

Like he'd said though, it wasn't the actual show that he was enjoying. It was solely due to Nate's involvement in the show that he wasn't considering tonight a total waste of his time. 

After a short interlude, the curtain rose again to applause from the audience. As the second half of the show kicked off, they watched as Nate's character began to act more.. well, douchey, for lack of a better phrase. As the fashion show in Milan apparently drew closer and closer, Nate forced his staff to redo the boots over and over again, driving them away until he eventually lashed out at Lola when she suggested that the rest of the drag queens walk the runway instead of getting professional models.

As the lights dimmed again while Nate turned back to the stage alone - and for a half a second, Brad worried that the younger man would catch sight of him and Ray in the audience - Ray leaned over to nudge him with his elbow again as the sounds of a guitar started up, "This is Nate's big solo number." He whispered. He glanced down at the program in his hands again, finding that the song was apparently called _'Soul of a Man'._

_"I'm bad news, a black and blue-ser. Who's a loser, a merry-go-round spiralling down."_ Nate sang, and again; he found himself taken-aback by just how good a singing voice Nate actually had. It felt a little bit like he'd been waiting the whole night to see this moment. Obviously the younger man had had other songs so far, but like he'd said; there hadn't really been anything special about any of the ones that had come before this. This song right here - as Nate folded slightly as he sang, gesturing with his hands, a look of agony on his face - this was the song that really showed off the younger man's vocal talent. When the song ended with Nate holding the last long note of _"Here comes that familiar sound, same old Charlie hitting the ground."_ He found himself clapping without needing to be prompted by the rest of the audience clapping first. 

Goddamn it. How the fuck was he supposed to just go back to pretending he didn't know this about Nate once this was over? 

As the show continued on, Nate tried his best to make amends to Lola - who evidently wasn't interested in his efforts to reach out - before arriving in 'Milan'. Without Lola's drag queens or the professional models to walk the runway though, Nate took things into his own hands as the fashion show started, and Brad would deny until the day he died that he'd almost choked on his own tongue at the sight of Nate clambering back onto the stage like a spider wearing the damn boots himself. 

Holy fucking shit. 

Their former Platoon Commander was currently dressed in a suit from the waist up, but from the waist down, he was clad in nothing but his boxers and a pair of thigh-high, red, leather, stiletto boots - and he was evidently struggling to walk in them.

He was pretty sure he was about to have a fucking heart attack. 

He barely had enough time to reorganise his thoughts before he dramatically fell off the runway as the lights dimmed again, and then Lola joined them on the stage, and they launched straight into what was apparently the finale of the show. Lola kicked off the start of the song while the rest of the drag queens danced around her, while Nate sat at the foot of the stage - still wearing those damn boots. After the first chorus though, he clambered to his feet, turning to Lola as he sang, _"Never put much heart in anything before. You strut into my life and help me go for something more. Now I stand up for myself, now I stand out from the crowd. Now I'm standing on high heels, if dad could see me now."_ Before stumbling up to dance unsteadily next to Lola - as though he was getting used to staying on his feet in the heels. 

He had a feeling that it was all an act though, that Nate didn't have as much of an issue standing in the heels as he was letting on, and it seemed his suspicions were correct as they launched back into the next chorus. All pretence was gone as Nate flawlessly fit himself into the routine alongside the other cast members - and honestly, he could feel his mouth drying up as he watched Nate keeping up with each twist and turn and kick without so much as a slight stumble. Obviously he'd had practice dancing in the stilettos, but he just hadn't been prepared for how flawlessly the younger man moved in the shoes - or for just how fucking sexy the sight would be. 

He was snapped out of his thoughts by Ray nudging him again, and he inclined his head slightly in his direction to show that he was listening - without actually taking his eyes off Nate, "If you need to go jerk one off in the bathroom, I'd recommend you go now, 'cause I know a guy that's gonna get us backstage after this." He told him. Evidently he hadn't been as subtle as he'd thought he'd been with the way he was staring at Nate. 

"Shut the fuck up."He groused, although he couldn't the deny the warmth he felt curling in his stomach at the idea that Ray was going to get them backstage after this, that he'd have a chance to actually see Nate up close, to talk to him. 

Fuck. He wasn't sure how he was supposed to face him though - now that his mind was currently being assaulted by the image of what Nate would look like in all different styles of high-heeled shoes. Well, it seemed Lola was right about one thing at least - the sex certainly was in the heel. 

Shit, that really wasn't the sort of image he needed in his head right now. 

The cast lined up towards the front of the stage as the song drew to a close, before the lights dimmed once the song ended. After a moment, the stage lit back up as the cast took their bow and waved while the audience cheered, and obviously he found himself clapping along. He was finding it hard to take his eyes off Nate though, and the bright smile splitting his face. 

"Hey." Ray started, nudging at his elbow, "Come on, we'll beat the rush. I got a guy waiting to let us backstage." He told him, nodding towards the exit. 

It seemed that a few people had had the same idea as them - maybe not for getting backstage, but for beating the crowd out anyway - as they didn't have to wade through much of a crowd to let them back out to the main lobby. Once they'd gotten outside, Ray lead them back around to the side door, where there were two security guards standing by the door. At the sight of Ray approaching them, with Brad close behind, the one closest to them turned to them and shook his head, "Sorry, guys. Cast and crew only." 

"I know. I'm Ray, Justin's expecting us." Ray explained. 

The guard raised an eyebrow down in Ray's direction, before clicking on the radio on his shoulder, "Hey, get me Justin, will ya?" He said, before stopping for a moment while whoever was on the other end of the line did what they were told, "Justin, there's a guy called Ray here looking for you, said you were expecting him?" He said into the radio, before nodding in Ray and Brad's direction, "Alright, come on in." He told them, stepping back to open the door for them. 

He followed Ray inside to the hallway, where they were met by a man wearing a shirt and a similar radio to the one that the security guard outside had been wearing, "Ray!" He beamed, pulling the younger man in for a quick hug before holding him back at arms length, "Damn, how you been?" 

"Good, man. This is Brad, I had to drag him along tonight." He said with a grin, turning back slightly to Brad, who nodded and flashed a quick smile to this Justin guy. Not to be rude, considering he was the one who'd gotten them backstage in the first place, but he wasn't exactly the person he was interested in talking to tonight. 

Ray and Justin made small talk for another couple of moments, before his attention was drawn back to them when Ray asked, "Look, dude, can you point us in Nate Fick's direction? We're old friends of his, wanted to say hey." 

"Course, yeah. He's probably in the dressing room, c'mon." Justin told them. 

He followed after both Ray and Justin while the latter lead them along to what was presumably the dressing room - although he couldn't really say he was paying attention as the two of them caught up. From what he did catch though, Justin had grown up in Missouri and had apparently gone to high-school with Ray. Eventually they reached the dressing room, and Justin let them in, "Nate, hey. You got visitors." He called to him. 

Nate was standing aside talking with two of the other cast members - someone that he didn't recognise, as well as the man who'd played Lola - and, fuck.. he looked really damn good. He'd swapped out the suit jacket and red leather boots for a pair of jeans and a white tank top, and he had a towel draped around the back of his neck, a water bottle in his hand. His hair was slightly flattened against his forehead with sweat - longer than he'd ever remembered him having it before - and his cheeks were slightly flushed. He turned to them when he heard his name, before his face lit up in recognition when he realised that it was Ray and Brad stood in front of him, _"What?!"_ He beamed, dropping his hands to his knees as he folded over slightly for a moment, before approaching them with a bright smile, "Were you guys at the show?" He asked. 

"Unfortunately. Ray seemed to think it was necessary to subject me to two hours of song and dance when my time could have been spent in more valuable ways." 

"Dude, I highly doubt it." Ray deadpanned, before turning his attention back to Nate, "Honestly, sir. I always thought you were a little bit light on your feet, but I assumed it was just that you were guzzling cock two to three times a day. Not that you're actually just light on your feet." 

He couldn't help but laugh under his breath at the slightly surprised way the people nearest to them were looking at them because of Ray's words, and he had to remind himself that not everybody spoke to each other like Marines did. The man who had played Lola grinned at them though, and it seemed that that wasn't what he'd taken away from what Ray had said, _"Sir?"_ He asked, glancing at Nate, "Is there something I'm missing here?" He asked. Well yeah, he was pretty sure that none of them had ever shaken the habit of referring to Nate as 'sir'. 

Nate just smiled though, rolling his eyes, "It's nothing like whatever I'm sure you're imagining. I was their Platoon Commander in Iraq." 

"Iraq? You never told us you were a soldier." 

"A Marine." Nate corrected him with a smile, "Brad breaks out in hives when people refer to us as soldiers." He added with a sly grin in Brad's direction, and it took him a moment to realise that Nate was teasing him, "But yeah, I was a Lieutenant. First Reconnaissance. I haven't been a Marine in almost four years though." 

"You were promoted to Captain just before you left, in case you'd forgotten." Brad reminded him, with a grin of his own. 

"And I don't think even one of you has ever referred to me as anything other than LT." 

He couldn't help but smile back at that, because, well.. it was true. Nate hadn't been a Captain for long before he'd decided to leave the Corps though, so he was pretty sure it didn't count. 

"This is Billy, by the way." Nate said again after a moment, dropping his arm around the shoulders of the man who'd played Lola, "Billy, this is.. Sergeant?" He asked, trailing off at the end of his sentence. He supposed he could be forgiven for that though, it had been over a year since he'd last even spoken to Nate, so he could be forgiven for not knowing what rank he stood at now. 

"Gunnery Sergeant Brad Colbert, and Staff Sergeant Ray Person." He said, nodding in Ray's direction. 

"Brad was my Team Leader when we were deployed, and Ray was his RTO." Nate explained.

"A pleasure." Billy said, holding a hand out to him which he shook. He couldn't help but notice the slightly amused way that Nate was regarding him as he did though, stood back to the side with his hands in his pockets. God, he was fucking beautiful. 

"Hey, don't be fucking rude." Ray groused, elbowing him in the side. It was only then that he realised Billy was still talking to him, and he raised his eyebrows to indicate that he hadn't heard him the first time. 

"The after party starts in thirty minutes, in the bar across the road. You two gents should join us." Billy said again, still holding onto Brad's hand as he smiled up at him. 

He had the sneaking suspicion that he was being flirted with here, and he couldn't help the way that his gaze flickered back to Nate for a moment, who was still wearing that slightly amused expression. 

"I'd love to, but I think Carla already wanted to lynch me for bailing on her on Friday night again. You should totally go though." Ray piped up before he got a chance to say anything, turning to him. Honestly? He usually would have declined the invitation. He had little to no interest in tagging along to this after party full of people he didn't even know, plus he'd already given Ray the two hours that he'd promised him. Besides, Ray had been his ride here, and he was heading home instead of going. He had absolutely zero obligation to agree to this, and yet.. he found himself nodding and shrugging. "I could come for a while, I suppose."

It was maybe slightly worth it to see the smile spreading across Nate's face at that. 

He walked back out with Ray, figuring that he'd go straight across to the bar and wait for Nate and the others while they got their shit together and changed and whatever the fuck else they had to do before getting to the bar, "Don't forget." Ray reminded him while they trailed back out to where he'd parked his car earlier, "No hooking up with theatre twinks. Or if you really have to, at least be responsible. Just think of the shame of having to admit where you managed to pick up the clap."

"If that were the case, I could simply blame your mother for that. Although getting the clap would be the least of my problems if I accidentally fucked your mother." 

"Yeah, whatever." Ray chirped, grinning as he rolled his eyes, "At least try to have fun though, yeah?" 

He just nodded, rubbing the back of his neck. Honestly, he wouldn't have dreamt of coming to this stupid party if Nate hadn't been coming too, and he supposed that that said all that needed to be said. Well, whatever. He wondered if Ray had picked up on that too though, how much he suspected about why he was being so willing. Not that he'd been willing earlier on, but that had changed just as soon as he'd realised the reason that Ray had dragged him to this thing - just like he'd known that he would, the little fucking cretin. 

Eventually Ray left him to it, and he trailed across to the bar across the street that Billy had told him that the party was at. It was still early enough, so he found the bar still somewhat empty - only a few tables and booths here and there occupied. So he claimed himself a seat at the bar, ordering himself a beer while he waited. Now that he was here though, he was faced with the reality that Nate would be here in a few minutes and that he'd finally get to actually talk to him again after what was.. nearly two years. A hell of a lot had changed since then, a lot had changed in the four years since Nate had actually left the Corps. For starters, he'd thought that he'd gotten over the crush he'd had on his former Commanding Officer, and now that he was faced with him again, he had to accept the fact that that really wasn't the case. Like he'd said though, Nate had never given him any indication that the feeling was mutual, and so he had no reason to think that that might be the case now. Still, it would be nice to catch up with him. 

He was halfway through his beer when Nate and a few of the others showed up, and then he found the bar stool beside him occupied, "This seat taken?" Nate asked, grin still in place as he turned slightly on the stool so that he was facing Brad. 

"Saved it for you, sir." He said with a hint of a smile, waving to catch the bartenders' attention before indicating to bring them another round. 

"Brad, you really don't have to call me 'sir' anymore." 

"I don't think any of us ever shook the habit, si- Nate." 

Nate's grin was sly as he regarded Brad, nodding his thanks to the bartender as he passed him the beer before turning his attention back to the other man, "Now, that wasn't so hard, was it?" He asked, grin still tugging at his lips. Those really fucking pretty lips. 

"Alright then, _Nate._ Care to tell me, how does one go from being a Lieutenant in the Marine Corps to singing and dancing on Broadway?" He asked. Well yeah, he'd googled the show while he was waiting on Nate to show up to the bar, and it turned out the show had started on Broadway before going on tour across the States. 

Nate just smiled, turning his attention back to his glass for a moment as his index finger followed a bead of condensation trickling down the side of the glass, "I dated a girl who was into the theatre scene, back when I lived in Boston. She got me into it, and at first it was just a hobby. I was studying PoliSci in school, but, I don't know.. it didn't suit me. So I left school, decided to make a job out of stage work." He explained with a small smile, "I moved to New York about nine months ago when Melissa and I broke up, and I met Billy. He was already acting on Broadway and he got me a few gigs doing smaller shows. So when Kinky Boots opened and he was cast as Lola, he encouraged me to audition for the role of Charlie and.. somehow, I got it." He shrugged.

He was still honestly trying to wrap his head around the fact that Nate was actually here, and that this was his life now. Like he'd said before though, he'd seemed more at home up on that stage than he'd ever seen him throughout his time in the Corps. 

"Are you happy?" He asked, glancing up at him. 

"I'm so happy." Nate told him, and the small smile on his face told him that there was no word of a lie there, "I love what I do, Brad. It's.. it's so different to anything I've done before." 

He just nodded, giving him a small smile. God, his heart broke for Nate sometimes. He knew that he had joined the Corps because he'd wanted to help, because he'd wanted to make a difference. He wasn't sure what sort of difference they had made, but he knew that being in the Corps had nearly beaten Nate, that it had nearly ruined him. He couldn't bear the thought of it - and thinking back to the difference between the beaten down Officer that he'd known four years ago, and the bright eyed young man in front of him now - he couldn't help but concede to the fact that getting out had been the right decision for Nate. 

"Do you ever miss it? Being in the Corps?" He asked after a moment. 

Nate looked thoughtful for a minute, his attention focused on the glass in front of him, "No." He said honestly, glancing back up at Brad, "I miss parts of it. I miss the guys. Before I had this, I missed feeling like I belonged somewhere. But no, I don't miss it." He shrugged. He looked like he wanted to say something else though, something that he was maybe slightly reluctant to say. He didn't though, and he cracked a small smile as he glanced back down at his glass, "What about you? Gunnery Sergeant now, right?" 

"Yeah. Unfortunately though, that means working directly with Captain Schwetje. I spend my days cleaning up after that man, and attempting to fix his numerous fuck-ups." 

Nate laughed quietly at that - and he was absolutely not having a crisis at the sound of his quiet, carefree laugh, "I trust you understand my frustrations with him now?"

"Nate, I don't know how you didn't fucking kill him." 

They shared another quiet laugh at that, and Nate ordered them another two beers. For a couple of minutes then, they just caught up on how things had been over the last couple of years, what had changed. It was in the back of his mind that Nate had mentioned that he and the girl he'd been seeing had broken up, but that he hadn't mentioned if he was dating somebody new or not. He was reluctant to ask though, and he found it hard to ignore the tiny voice in the back of his mind that reminded him that Nate hadn't asked either. He doubted it meant anything though, that it probably just hadn't occurred to him to ask.

"So, all hits at my masculinity aside, did you actually enjoy the show?"

"More than I thought I would." He admitted, a small smile pulling at his lips, "Truth be told, when Ray first told me what our plans for tonight were, I spent the rest of the day cursing him and his entire generational line." 

"But you did enjoy it in the end?" 

He smiled, shrugging a little, "I didn't hate it." 

At Nate's soft smile, he excused himself then to head to the bathroom. 

He probably could have gone another twenty minutes or so before really needing to go, but he just.. he'd found that he'd needed a minute, he'd needed a little space to breathe. He couldn't get the thought of Nate's pretty green eyes out of his head, and he realised with a pang - as he looked himself in the mirror while washing his hands - that tonight didn't change anything. In a couple of hours, he was going to go home to bed, and Nate would continue on with the tour before presumably going back to New York, and what then? It'd be another two years before they saw each other again? It was only by chance that they were sitting here together now, and so maybe there wouldn't be a next time. 

He didn't like to linger on that thought though, not when he had Nate here for the next little while, and so he sighed as he left the bathroom and went back to the bar. 

When he got there though, he found a couple of Nate's cast and crew members had joined him at the bar, and were seemingly trying to encourage more alcohol into him. He glanced back at Brad when he returned with an expression that conveyed that he needed to be saved, "Brad, they're trying to get me to do shots. Please tell them how bad of an idea this is." He pleaded, although he was smiling. 

Thinking back on it, he'd only ever seen Nate drunk once - at his paddle party. That had been Nate's night though, he'd been the centre of attention, and so he hadn't exactly gotten a moment alone with him. Even if he had though, he wasn't sure what he would have said to him.

So he just shrugged, picking up one of the shots that were lined up on the bar - Jaeger, if the dark liquid and the slightly liquorice smell were anything to go by - and knocking it back in one go, "I think it would be a waste of a good night not to." He shrugged, trying his best to keep his face straight, "Sir." He added on. 

Nate grinned, rolling his eyes, "You're a bad influence, Sergeant." He told him, before picking up his own shot and necking it back - with only a slight shudder, to his credit. It seemed civilian life hadn't ruined him just yet. 

From there on, they continued drinking, each of them ordering more than one round of beer for the two of them over the next couple of hours. That wasn't all they ended up drinking though, a couple of Nate's friends bought them drinks too, plus they'd both gotten them a couple of drinks each in return. That meant that it wasn't all pints of beer though, Nate's friends seemed to be unfortunately fond of shots - he'd had to insist on no more shots after his third shot of tequila in a row, to the delight of Nate's friends. He was pretty sure the impending hangover he was definitely going to have tomorrow might actually kill him. He wasn't sure exactly what time it was when Billy brought them over a bottle of champagne and insisted that they share a glass with him. Not that he drank champagne ever really, but he was pretty sure it would be rude to decline the offer, and so he'd agreed. 

That seemed to be the breaking point for Nate though, and he honest to God _giggled_ as he knocked over the empty champagne flute once he'd put it down. He made a halfhearted attempt to grab at it as it rolled away, although Brad somehow managed to catch it before it rolled off the side of the bar - he wasn't all that sure how though, considering he was equally as drunk as Nate. 

"God, I uh.. I need to go, I'm drunk. Go back to the hotel." He murmured, giggling again as he leaned his cheek in his open palm, elbow resting on the bar. 

Fuck, he was so fucking lovely like this. Expression open and happy, cheeks flushed and green eyes bright from the alcohol. He didn't want to let him go already, even though he was just as drunk as Nate - and would probably be ready to sleep in about thirty minutes. He was pretty sure that there'd never be a time that he was ready to let Nate go though. 

So even though he knew it was a bad idea, he gently kicked at his ankle underneath the bar, "You could crash at mine. I'm not far, it's.. we could split a cab?" He suggested with a shrug. That was all he was suggesting though, honestly. He had a spare room that was already made up and ready to go, it wasn't like he was about to spring it on Nate that there was only one bed and that they'd have to share. He just wasn't ready to say goodnight to him yet, since he had no idea when the next time he'd see him would be. 

Nate just looked at him for a moment, his green eyes tired as he considered the offer, "Yeah, I could.. yeah." He eventually conceded with a smile, "I can never work the key thing in the door when I'm drunk. I've slept in a couple of hallways in my time." He admitted with a grin. 

"You're a disgrace, honestly." He told him, although he couldn't quite keep the slightly giddy grin off his own face as he spoke. 

He waited at the bar while Nate said his goodbyes to the others, letting them know that he was finally admitting defeat and turning in for the night. He hadn't thought that it was as late as it was, although a quick glance at his watch told him that it was nearing two a.m. He was surprised honestly, because he hadn't felt the time flying by as it had. Although he supposed that he never had when he was with Nate. 

Billy approached him while he was waiting on Nate to finish saying goodbye, and he smiled at him as he dropped down onto the bar stool that Nate had just vacated, "He staying with you?"

He nodded, rubbing the back of his neck, "Yeah, I'm not far from here. Handy to split a cab." He shrugged, tapping his fingers on the edge of the empty glass that he'd been left with. 

Billy regarded him with an odd expression, although he didn't seem to be particularly hostile. He wasn't sure what the look on his face meant, although he wasn't entirely sure that he wanted to know either, "Look." He started, turning a little on the stool so that he was facing Brad, "When you say he's staying with you, do you mean he's just staying in your house, or will he be sleeping in your bed?" 

He was surprised at that honestly, because it wasn't like that. Well.. maybe it was for him, just a little bit. What he meant though was that that hadn't been his intentions when he'd asked Nate to crash at his. It certainly wouldn't be unwelcomed, but that hadn't been his intentions. So he just shook his head, rubbing his face, "I'm.. it's not like that. He's not.." He started, before sighing and shrugging, "I have a spare room." He finished, although he could hear it himself how pathetic almost that that excuse was. 

Billy continued to just look at him, although he smiled after a moment, reaching over to gently pat Brad's forearm, "Just take care of him is all, he's a good boy." 

"I know." He said with a nod, rubbing his face again. Well yeah, he'd always known that, he'd always known just how good a person Nate was, and how unfair it was that he'd been dealt as shitty a hand as he had been in the Marine Corps. He deserved better than that, he always had. 

Billy smiled, squeezing his forearm gently before glancing over to where Nate was laughing as he talked to one of the girls, "Stay there, I'll round him up." He told him. 

So he did what he was told, staying sat where he was at the bar while Billy went and got Nate, steering him back over to where Brad was waiting on him. He couldn't help but smile as he brought him back over, mainly at the bright smile Nate was wearing as well as the slightly glassy eyed look that gave away just how blitzed he actually was. Not that he could judge though, he was equally as drunk. 

"Now do I got to walk you two out to the rank or can you find your own way?" Billy asked once he'd steadied Nate, holding onto both his arms to keep him upright. 

"We're fine. Worry too much about me." Nate groused, although he was smiling as he playfully elbowed Billy. 

"That's 'cause you're a hazard and need worrying about." Billy told him, pointing the two of them towards the door of the bar, "Be good, you two. I don't wanna have to go bailing you out of some jail cell in the morning." He warned them. 

Somehow - although he wasn't entirely sure how - they managed to make it out of the bar and down to the rank at the end of the street without any incidents, and he climbed into the back seat of the cab first, leaving the door open for Nate. While he waited for the younger man to get in next to him, he rattled off his address to the driver before turning slightly back in Nate's direction once he'd gotten into the cab and shut the door behind him. 

Instead of sitting on the opposite side to him though, Nate had for some reason slid over on the seat so that he was sitting in the middle, and so his knees and shoulder were pressed against Brad's side where they sat. 

"Brad." Nate started after a moment, reaching over to slap at his knee with the back of his hand. He hadn't even realised that he'd been dropping off until Nate startled him out of it, and he just blinked in his direction, "Don't go to sleep, need your keys. Can't sleep in the cab anyway." He told him, although he didn't look like he was too far off falling asleep himself, if the way he tiredly rubbed at his eye with a knuckle was anything to go by. 

"I'm not asleep, I'm resting my eyes." He answered, smiling brightly when his response drew a laugh from Nate again. Damn, he loved the sound of Nate's laughter, he wanted to be the cause of that sound for the rest of his life.

After what he was pretty sure was only a couple of minutes, considering he knew his house wasn't actually that far from the bar that they'd been in, the cab pulled up on the curb outside his house and the driver turned back to let them know that they were here, "I brought money." Nate told him, although he shushed him and pushed his hands away when he tried digging in his pockets for his wallet. It wasn't that much anyway, and he was pretty sure they'd only end up confusing both of them if they tried to split the fare. 

Once he'd wrestled his own wallet out of his pocket and paid the driver, he climbed out of the cab after Nate - and he wasn't quite able to hold back his own laughter at the way the younger man swayed slightly where he was standing as he waited for him.

"Please don't fall, I won't be able to pick you up if you do." He pleaded with him. He was pretty sure an attempt on his behalf would only end up with them both in a heap on the ground - and considering Nate stood at 6'1" and was still the short one, he was pretty sure it wouldn't be a pretty picture. 

They made it up to the front door in one piece, although he'd underestimated how much of a struggle it would actually be to wrestle his keys out of his pocket once they were at the door. He'd gotten his wallet out of his pocket no problem in the cab, although he had a moment of panic when he'd thought that he'd left his wallet in the back of the cab before realising it was in his other pocket along with his phone. Apparently the sight was one of the funniest things Nate had ever seen though, as he descended into the same giddy giggling that he had when he'd knocked over the champagne flute in the bar, "Shh, stop. You'll wake your neighbours." Nate attempted to whisper through his laughter, even though he was the one making the noise. 

"I won't, I'm asleep- they're asleep, I'm quiet." He insisted as he eventually got the keys out of his pocket - and after a moment of struggling with the lock, finally let them into the house. 

Nate was right at his back as he followed him into the house, and the hallway was dark when he shut the door behind them, Nate still quietly giggling behind his hand in an attempt to muffle his laughter. He leaned back against the door behind him as he started to laugh too, and he wasn't totally sure who initiated it, but before he knew it they were kissing. 

Nate gripped him by the collar of his shirt as he leaned up into the kiss, and in return he fisted a hand in the fabric of Nate's shirt at his hip, the fingers of his other hand gently cupping around the curve of his jaw. For a moment it was just a slightly uncoordinated press of lips, until Nate made a tiny frustrated noise in the back of his throat before tilting his head into the kiss, sliding his tongue against Brad's lower lip. He went easily with it, parting his lips on a sigh and meeting the glide of Nate's tongue with his own, and fuck.. the younger man's mouth was warm and wet when he licked into his mouth, and he had to hold back a noise of his own when Nate pressed his body against his. 

They pulled apart after a moment, but again, he wasn't totally sure on who's part that conscious decision had been, "What are we doing?" Nate whispered. He was still gripping the front of Brad's shirt though, and he was still close enough to breathe the same air, although his eyes were closed. It seemed that he wasn't totally unhappy by this turn of events, but like he was trying to let his moral compass take the lead - just like he had always remembered him doing. 

So on that note, he slid his hand a little further around the curve of his jaw, waiting until Nate had opened his eyes and he was sure that he had his attention, "There's nothing you could suggest that I'd say no to." 

It may have been the most honest he'd ever been with him, but he was pretty sure that the situation called for it right now. He could have answered with an 'I don't know' but he was pretty sure an answer like that would only send Nate running for the spare room, and then in the morning they wouldn't acknowledge this and they'd pretend that it had never happened.

He couldn't live with that. If there was even the slightest chance that Nate wanted this, then he wanted it too. 

Nate looked up at him, still slightly glassy-eyed - although he was drunk too, so it wasn't like he felt he was taking advantage of him or anything. He looked unsure enough though that Brad was about to put an end to this whole thing, to tell him goodnight and that he'd see him in the morning. He didn't quite make it that far though, as the younger man leaned up to press their lips together again, moving his hands up to cup his face between his hands as he did. 

With no argument in mind, he dropped his hands down to Nate's waist - mostly with the intention to just hold, although he found himself pulling the younger man's shirt out from where it was tucked into his trousers so that he could press his fingers to bare skin, "What d'you want?" He asked, his words mostly muffled by the press of Nate's lips still against his. 

In lieu of an answer, Nate simply pulled back far enough so that he could see what he was doing as he dropped his hands down to fumble with Brad's belt. 

"Fuck, are you sure?" He asked as Nate pulled his belt free from his jeans, and he felt a little like he'd been winded when those green eyes were suddenly turned on him. 

"D'you need words, Sergeant? I'm going to suck your cock." 

He felt a wave of heat rush through him at Nate's words, and he was about to ask again was he sure, before he surged up again to press another hard kiss to his lips. He continued to fumble with the button and zipper on Brad's jeans as they kissed, and then he had Brad's jeans open and he dipped his hand in to wrap his fingers around his cock. 

He felt a little like the breath had been punched out of him, and he couldn't do much other than hold on for the ride while Nate simultaneously sucked on his tongue and jerked his cock. Fuck, he wasn't sure how many times he'd thought about being in this exact situation - but for all of the times that he'd thought about this, he'd never thought that it would happen like this, that they'd be pressed against the wall of his hallway in the dark, both of them drunk enough that he was pretty sure even just keeping upright was a challenge in itself. That being said though, as drunk as they were, Nate certainly had some skill with both his fingers and his tongue - he couldn't wait to see just how skilled that mouth would be when he eventually got it on his cock. 

As if Nate could read his thoughts, he breathed out a soft sound of frustration as he pulled both his mouth and his hand away from Brad before sinking to his knees. He shoved Brad's jeans and boxers down around his thighs as he went, before he closed his fingers back around his cock, "I'm going to suck you off." He told him again, glancing up at him again for a moment. 

"Yeah, fuck.. Do it." He told him, threading his fingers though Nate's hair as he looked down at him. He had half a moment where his mind wandered to what Sixta would have to say about the grooming standard if he saw Nate's hair like this. He was pretty glad that he'd grown it out though, because he doubted he'd be able to grip the closely cropped hair that Nate had worn during their deployment, certainly not like the way he was right now. 

Nate groaned quietly at the feeling of Brad's fingers tugging at his hair, closing his fingers around the shape of his own cock through his jeans for a moment - and Brad decided that his new mission was to get his own hand on that cock as soon as was physically possible - before he closed his mouth around his cock. 

Fuck. 

That fucking mouth. 

He was pretty sure there hadn't been a man in their platoon who hadn't had at least one indecent thought about Nate and his pretty fucking mouth back when they'd been in Iraq, but no fantasy that he'd ever had lived up to the sight of Nate on his knees with his lips wrapped around his cock. 

"Goddamn it." He growled, dropping his head back against the wall behind him as the younger man took him in slightly further. 

He almost couldn't look down at Nate. The thought of being faced with those green eyes was almost too much, and he didn't want to end up embarrassing himself by blowing his load the second Nate got his mouth on his cock. He was drunk enough that he was pretty sure he wouldn't get it up a second time, and he had bigger plans for tonight. Actually, he was drunk enough that he was surprised he'd been able to get it up at all - although Nate turned him on like nobody else had ever been able to, so he supposed it wasn't that big of a surprise. 

As Nate took him in further, lightly bobbing his head and working his tongue along the underside of his cock, the thought crossed his mind that this couldn't have been the first time Nate had done this. Maybe he was wrong, but he was pretty sure there was a difference in knowing what to do from experience, and just winging it by doing what he liked to have done to him. He wasn't totally sure how to feel about the possibility that Nate had been with other men before, but he supposed it would have been pretty naive to assume that he'd been the one to turn him - even if that was pretty much the case for him. 

He let his hand rest in Nate's hair as he looked down at him, feeling the heat curling in his stomach at the way the younger man dragged his tongue up the length of his cock before sinking back down. He had the fingers of one hand curled around what he couldn't fit into his mouth, the other resting on Brad's hipbone, and fuck.. he was a beautiful sight, and he couldn't help but moan as he flicked his wrist. 

Like he'd said, he was as talented with his mouth and tongue as he'd expected, and before he was really ready for it, he could feel the heat starting to spread. And so he pushed lightly at Nate's shoulder, dragging the fingers of his other hand through his hair again, "Wait, stop." He managed to grit out, trying his best to control the way he was panting. 

"What?" Nate asked once he'd pulled back, green eyes clouded with lust as he looked up at him, "Change of heart?"

"No.. fuck, no. I just.. come here." He told him, coaxing Nate back to his feet and pulling him in to press their lips together in another hard kiss, "I don't want this to be over before I get my cock inside you." 

Nate honest to God whimpered against his mouth at that, his fingers pressing in hard where they still rested on Brad's hips, "Fuck, where's your bedroom?" He asked, and it was only then that he realised that they were still stood in his hallway. 

They managed to make it into his bedroom without any incidents, and he'd only shut the door behind him before he had Nate pressed back against it, dropping his head down to mouth at the taut line of his neck. He'd pulled his jeans back up on the way to the bedroom, although they were still hanging open, and he was pretty sure his belt was still lying on the floor in the hallway. He'd managed to unbutton Nate's shirt too, and the younger man was making quick work of the buttons on his own shirt. He grinned at the hitch in Nate's breath as he scraped his teeth over the tendon in his neck, sliding his hand down over Nate's ass before squeezing and using the grip to pull him against him again. 

"Get naked.. take your fucking pants off." Nate ground out, dropping his arms from where they'd been fumbling with the buttons on his shirt so that he could tug at his jeans again. 

Instead of doing what he was told, he leaned back out of Nate's space, hooking his fingers into the belt loops of Nate's jeans and using that hold to pull him away from the door. Pressing their lips together in another hard kiss, he walked them back towards the bed, before pushing Nate down onto it once his calves had hit the bedframe. He didn't waste any time in following him down onto the bed, but by the time he covered Nate's body with his own, the younger man was already wrestling with his own jeans. 

"Let me." He murmured, pushing Nate's hands out of the way so that he could fumble with the button and zipper himself. While he did that, Nate busied himself with pushing Brad's shirt down over his shoulders. Between them, it didn't take them long to strip out of their clothes, and then they were just left in their boxers. 

Fuck, Nate was beautiful like this. He was panting slightly, flush high on his cheeks and eyes bright from the effects of the alcohol. He had his arms draped around Brad's neck, and his lower lip caught between his teeth as he looked up at him, "Hell, Nate.. what d'you want?" He asked, dipping down to brush his lips gently against the younger man's - not quite a kiss, but close enough. 

"You know what I want." Nate murmured, pulling him down against him and pressing his own hips up in response - and he had to hold his breath for a moment at the feeling of Nate's hard cock pressing against him. Shit, he really needed to get a hold of himself before he ended up embarrassing himself. 

"Driving me crazy." He breathed as he rolled his hips down against Nate's, grinning at the groan that his action elicited from the younger man. He made his way down his body, pressing his mouth to his neck at first. He dragged his teeth against the taut tendon in his neck before pressing a kiss to the junction of where his neck met his shoulder. From there, he worked his way down his chest, stopping to close his mouth around a nipple and swirl his tongue around it just to get a reaction from Nate. It seemed he was sensitive, if the way he whined high in his throat and writhed under his touch was anything to go by, "Brad, please." He whined, his hands skirting over Brad's tightly cropped hair as he tried to find a grip.

"Please what?" He asked, glancing up at him from under his eyelashes as he pressed a light kiss to his sternum.

Nate just laughed slightly breathlessly, giving up on trying to pull his hair in favour of just smoothing his hand over it instead, "You're an asshole." 

He smiled sharply up at him before continuing his way down, trailing his mouth over the ridges of Nate's abs. Goddamn, he'd been out of the Corps nearly four years, and he was still just as lean and toned as he'd always been. It had been obvious that Nate was in good shape, even if the bulky fabric of their fatigues and MOPP suits had left a lot to the imagination. He'd expected him to have softened up a little in his civilian life, although he supposed that he still needed to keep in shape if he was up dancing on that stage nearly every night. Still, not where his mind was focused right now. He glanced up at him as he grazed his teeth gently against his sharp hipbone, hooking his fingers into the waistband of his boxers. He was pretty sure neither of them were going to back out at this point, but he still raised an eyebrow up in Nate's direction before he went any further, just to be sure. At the other man's nod, he sat back a little so that he could pull his boxers down his thighs and toss them over the edge of the bed. 

Fuck. 

How long had he spent wanting this, and now he finally had Nate Fick naked in his bed. 

Nate's cock was just as pretty as the rest of him - hard and curved up towards his stomach, leaking at the tip already - and he couldn't resist closing his fingers around it and jerking it slowly for a moment to hear him moan. It was just to get a reaction out of him though, because he had other plans in mind right now.

He continued his journey lower with his mouth, dragging his lips over the soft flesh of his thigh before stopping once he'd reached his knee, "Hey." He murmured, pressing a hand to the underside of his knee, "Nightstand, lube and condoms." He told him, once he had his attention, dragging his mouth over the curve of his knee. 

Nate glanced over to the nightstand, before propping himself up on an elbow so that he could reach over and rummage in the drawer. He came up with the half used bottle of lube without a problem, although he frowned as he continued to search for a moment, "Uh, no condoms." He told him, glancing back down in Brad's direction.

"Fuck." He muttered. Now that he thought about it though, it had certainly been.. a while, since he'd needed a condom at all, and the last time he'd used one had been the last one he'd had. It wasn't like he'd planned tonight, so he certainly hadn't had the forethought to go pick some up. 

Nate bit his lip gently for a moment before a sly smile spread over his face as he looked down at Brad, "I know I'm clean, and I'm going to guess you are too. So if you promise not to knock me up, we could just go without." He suggested. 

He groaned quietly at that, dropping his head down to hang for a moment. Fuck, Nate really was going to kill him if he kept saying things like that, "Yeah, fuck, okay." He murmured once he'd regained some sort of composure, "Turn over, hands and knees." 

Nate did what he was told, although he braced himself on his elbows rather than staying propped up on his hands and knees. Between the blowjob, and seeing Nate so wanting and pretty like this, he was close enough to the edge already - and they hadn't even really started yet. Still, he didn't let himself get sidetracked, and he reached up to grab the bottle of lube. Instead of going straight for it though, he let his hands roam over Nate's ass - great ass, he'd noticed - before spreading his cheeks to expose him slightly. Nate was already squirming slightly under his touch, and so he couldn't help but grin at the moan he dragged from the younger man when he leaned in to swipe his tongue over his hole. 

"Fuck, Brad." Nate whined, pressing back against him. 

He could feel the edge crawling back closer at the sounds that the younger man was making, and so he didn't let up as he pressed his fingers hard into the firm muscle of Nate's ass - alternating between broad flat strokes of his tongue, and pressing his tongue into his hole. It was wet and messy, but Nate was obviously into it, and so he certainly didn't have any complaints, "Brad, please.. your fingers." He gasped, and he could feel the way he was shaking under his touch. 

He had no doubts that Nate was getting closer and closer to losing it, and so he pulled back enough so that he could see what he was doing as he opened the bottle of lube and slicked his fingers. He pressed a finger into Nate then, feeling the heat curling in him at the low moan his action drew from the younger man. Fuck, he really needed to get this part out of the way as soon as possible, or this was going to be over before it even started. 

He slowly worked his one finger into Nate, before adding another once he was sure that he could take it. Like he'd said, he wanted to get this part out of the way, but he didn't want to just go for it and end up hurting Nate. It seemed that the younger man had other ideas though. While he was carefully sliding two fingers in and out of him, Nate made a quiet noise of frustration before reaching back and pressing one of his own fingers in alongside both of Brad's, "Fuck, Nate.." He breathed, biting down on his lip as he watched the lewd sight in front of him. 

"Not made of glass, Brad." 

"I know, but fuck." 

For a moment, Nate fucked his own finger into himself alongside Brad's before he pulled it out, dislodging Brad's hand too as he went, "I'm ready, come on." He told him. 

He hadn't anticipated the fact that they'd be doing this without a condom, but Nate had seemed pretty adamant to the fact that he was alright with it. He was clean too though, so he really didn't see any issues with it. Besides, it wasn't like he could accidentally get Nate pregnant or anything. 

So he quickly kicked off his own boxers before he sat back on his hunches while he grabbed the lube again, taking a deep breath as he slicked up his cock. Fuck, they were really about to do this, "Hold on, turn back over." He told him, pushing gently at Nate's hip. If they were going to do this, he didn't want to be stuck looking at the back of Nate's head. There was no guarantee that this wasn't going to be a drunken once off encounter, and that tomorrow morning things would go right back to how they had been before. So if this was the only chance he'd get to have this, he wanted to do it face to face with Nate, so he could see how he looked as he fell apart. 

Nate did what he was told, turning over onto his back again and letting Brad hitch his legs up around his hips as he lined his cock up, "Last chance to change your mind?" He asked, although Nate rolled his eyes and pulled him down to press their lips together again. 

"Brad, I'm about two seconds from pushing you down onto the mattress and doing it my damn self, so get on with it." He told him, biting down on Brad's lower lip. 

"Okay, okay." He said with a nod. He let himself get into the kiss then, licking into Nate's mouth as he slowly pushed in, drawing a moan from them both. Okay, shit, this really wasn't going to last as long as he wanted it to, and he tried his best to focus his mind on literally anything other than the sight of Nate panting and writhing underneath him.

He eventually bottomed out, and he let out a shaky exhale once his hips were flush with Nate's ass, "Fuck, you're actually going to kill me." He murmured, dragging his mouth over the curve of the younger man's jaw. Nate had his legs hitched up around his hips, heel pressing into the dip of his lower back, and he could feel his fingers pressing hard into the backs of his shoulderblades - hard enough that he figured there could be bruises tomorrow morning. 

"God, you feel so good." Nate ground out, his voice shaky as he arched his back slightly, "I'm ready, move." 

He focused his attention on sucking a mark into the tender skin just above Nate's collarbone as he pulled out slightly, only to thrust back in a moment later. 

It didn't take them long to get into a rhythm that suited them both, with him fucking into Nate while the younger man arched up into his touch, spurring him on by digging his heel into his lower back and gripping his hips. Nate had his head pressed back into the pillow as he moaned, and so he focused his attention on getting his mouth on every inch of his exposed neck that he could reach from here - and soon enough he had a line of hickeys littered down the line of his neck. He tried to keep it to spots that could be easily covered up, but he was pretty sure makeup could easily cover the mark he'd left on the tender skin just underneath his ear. 

"So fucking gorgeous, Nate." He gasped as he slid his arm underneath the younger man, angling his hips up a little so that he could fuck into him from a slightly different angle, "You have no idea how good you looked in those stilettos, couldn't shake the idea of fucking you while you wore them. You'd let me do it too, wouldn't you?" 

It seemed he'd gotten the angle he needed though, as Nate gasped and arched his back into the touch, his fingers pressing hard into the back of his neck where he'd been holding on, "Fuck, Brad.. right there." He whined, his knees tight around his hips. 

He tried his best to keep at that angle as he thrusted his hips, keeping his arm wrapped around Nate's waist to hold him there as he braced himself on his other forearm. Once Nate was panting and shaking against him though, he let go of his waist to wrap his fingers around Nate's cock, jerking him in time with his thrusts. It didn't take much longer of that though before Nate jerked and came with a broken cry, his head pressed back into the pillow. 

Fuck. This was just what he'd wanted by doing this face to face, to see the open and agonising expression on Nate's face as he pushed him over the edge, ropes of come covering his fingers as he continued to jerk him with a shaky hand. 

"So fucking beautiful, you have no idea how you look right now." He moaned as he pressed his face back against his neck, gently biting down over his pulse point as he continued to thrust into him at a punishing pace. 

"Come on, Brad." He gasped, cupping Brad's face between his hands as he dragged him back up into another messy kiss. 

He couldn't do much more than pant into Nate's mouth as his orgasm finally washed over him, and he shuddered at the feeling of Nate moaning into his mouth. Fuck, the feeling was even more intense without the sensation of the latex between them. He managed to hold himself up long enough just to pull out, before he collapsed onto the bed next to Nate, his legs still tangled with his further down the bed. 

For a moment neither of them spoke, and the only sounds in the room were the sounds of their panting as they tried to get their breaths back. Holy fucking shit. As much as he'd expected Nate to be pretty fucking good in the sack, he hadn't expected that. Because they were both as drunk as they were, he'd been half expecting something messy and only somewhat satisfying. Now he was pretty sure it was going to take him a couple of minutes before he even remembered his own name. 

A quick glance at Nate told him that the younger man seemed to be going through exactly the same thing, and he grinned when he caught his eye, "Pretty fucking great." He teased with a grin, laughing quietly at the eye roll Nate shot in his direction in response. God, Nate was gorgeous in the afterglow, skin flushed and sweat beading in the hollow of his throat that he wanted to drag his tongue across. 

"Yeah, shit." He murmured with a shaky laugh, rubbing a hand over his face. 

He grabbed his shirt from the end of the bed and quickly cleaned himself off while Nate staggered into the en-suite bathroom on shaky legs. By the time he'd returned, he'd managed to pull the sheets up over himself and had curled up on his own side of the bed. He opened his eyes when he felt the bed dipping, smiling as Nate slid underneath the covers next to him, "Hey." He murmured. 

"Hey." Nate said softly in response, sliding his hand over so that the side of his hand was resting against the side of Brad's. They weren't holding hands, not even close, but it was something, "I think you fucked my brains out." He teased. 

"Likewise." He admitted, smiling at the tired expression Nate was suddenly wearing. He felt the same though, now that the urgency had passed, he could feel the bone weary tiredness setting in that he was pretty sure was a combination of the alcohol, the fact that it was nearly three a.m., plus the fact that he and Nate had just fucked all of the energy out of each other, "Go to sleep." He told him, closing his eyes as he crossed his wrist over Nate's. 

"Yeah, goodnight Brad." He murmured, sliding over slightly closer to him. 

"'Night." 

  
-x-

  
When he woke up the next morning, he barely remembered the situation that he'd gotten himself into due to the hangover that he was currently nursing. It wasn't that bad that he thought he might need to be sick - he was pretty sure a couple more hours of sleep and a decent breakfast would be enough to cure him - but he certainly wasn't enjoying the headache or the cotton mouth that he was currently suffering with. 

For a moment, he was happy to lie where he was and feel sorry for himself. That was, right up until he realised three things. First, he was naked. Second, he was naked because he'd brought Nate home with him last night and they had hooked up. Third, the space next to him in the bed was empty. 

Shit. 

This wasn't what he wanted. Or.. well, it was. What he meant was that he'd certainly wanted to sleep with Nate, and there was nothing about last night that he regretted in the slightest. If he'd known before though that Nate was going to turn tail and disappear before he woke up, he obviously would have thought about it a little more carefully. He hadn't gotten the impression last night that Nate would regret the whole thing in the morning, or that he'd thought he'd make himself scarce before even having to face him this morning - the younger man had been just as enthusiastic about the whole thing last night. Obviously Nate had considered the whole thing a messy drunken mistake though, and he didn't want to have to deal with the fallout. Fuck. If he'd worried last night about not getting a chance to see Nate at all in the foreseeable future, he was pretty sure he could forget about it now. 

He was snapped out of his thoughts though by the sound of the toilet in his en suite bathroom flushing, and Nate reappearing a moment later. 

Right, seemed he hadn't made himself scarce. 

He looked unbothered enough, until he realised that Brad was awake and watching him, and his expression turned slightly unsure, "Hi." He murmured, giving him a tentative smile. God, he wanted to cry at just how fucking young Nate looked - hair mussed from sleep, and dressed in just his boxers and a t-shirt. Brad's t-shirt. One that he'd presumably dug out of the drawer when he'd woken up, "Are you panicking?" He asked, biting his lip gently.

"No." He answered with a slight shrug, and then, "Yes." 

At Nate's slightly crestfallen look though, he backtracked, "I thought you'd left." He clarified. Well yeah, he wasn't panicking because of what they had done, he'd been panicking because he'd thought Nate had skipped out on him without saying goodbye. 

He brightened up a little at that, giving him a tentative smile. He still looked a little unsure at the whole thing though, which Brad really wasn't sure that he liked, "I can leave if you want." He said with a shrug, leaning back against the door of the en suite.

His initial reaction was to insist that no, he didn't want him to leave, but he wasn't totally sure how to convey that without coming across as slightly desperate. He still couldn't really get a handle on how Nate was feeling about the whole situation. For fuck sake, he was the one that was nicknamed the Iceman, and yet Nate was guarding his emotions far better than he could ever hope to. He glanced over at the clock for a second before turning his attention back to Nate, "It's six forty-two a.m." He told him, trying to gauge his reaction as he spoke, "I think you should get back into bed and sleep for a few more hours." 

Nate smiled softly at him then, lingering by the door for a moment longer before he crossed the room to get back into the bed. He stayed somewhere between his own side of the bed and Brad's, curled up with one arm folded underneath his pillow. What he was trying to get at, was that he looked really lovely. 

"Do we need to talk?" He asked after a moment, raising an eyebrow in Brad's direction. 

"Later, maybe, if you feel we need to." 

He knew how he felt. He wanted this, he wanted Nate, for as long as he could possibly have him. He understood the want to talk about it though. A lot had changed since Iraq, they were different people now, they lived on opposite sides of the country. It wasn't just a matter of deciding they wanted this and then going hell for leather. There were things that needed to be discussed. Like he'd said though, it was six forty-two in the morning, they could talk about all of that later. 

Nate just smiled at him, nodding slightly, "Yeah, later." 

  
-x-

  
When he next woke up, he didn't have to worry about the possibility that Nate might have snuck out, considering the bed was warm from the younger man's body heat next to him.

Nate was still out for the count, curled close up against him underneath the covers. He had his head bent slightly towards Brad's - close enough that they were nearly sharing the pillow. His arms were curled close to his chest between their two bodies, his ankle crossed over Brad's further down the bed. Aside from that, they weren't touching except for where he had his arm draped across the dip of Nate's waist. He didn't remember doing that though, so he must have reached over to him in his sleep. 

Since Nate was still sleeping, he took a moment just to look at him, to take in all of the little details that he hadn't had a chance to notice before. Now that he was looking though, he realised that Nate hadn't actually changed all that much in the two years since he'd seen him. His hair had grown out - which, like he'd said last night, he was pretty glad of. That tiny mole was still under his left eye, as was the small scar between his eyebrows that looked to be the result of a chicken pock mark, freckles still spattered across the bridge of his nose. He still looked younger than his twenty-nine years though, and heartbreakingly innocent with his face smoothed out in sleep the way it currently was. He couldn't help but feel a slight twinge of self-satisfaction though, as he noticed the line of marks along the tendon of Nate's neck. 

God, he was beautiful really. He couldn't help but think of how glad he was that things had finally come to a head between them last night, that he'd finally gotten a chance to get him in bed. How long had he genuinely wanted that? For as long as he could remember anyway. He remembered being back in Kuwait and Nate had been in the middle of showing the team leaders the maps of the AO that had finally been issued. The younger man had been bent over the hood of the Humvee as he traced the route of the MSR into the country, his attention focused solely on the map in front of him. He hadn't been able to pay that close attention to the map though - he'd been distracted by the pretty slope of their Lieutenant's nose, the way his mouth momentarily twisted in frustration as he realised he was unfamiliar with a turn off the MSR, and he couldn't help but wish that they had met under different circumstances. 

He wondered if it was the same for Nate, if he'd spent just as long wanting and wishing that things were different. Like he'd said before though, he'd never gotten any indication that the feelings were mutual. Maybe he was just that good at covering up his feelings, or maybe last night had been just a spur of the moment thing for the younger man, encouraged by the influence of alcohol. He supposed that there was no point in speculating though, considering Nate had been pretty clear about the fact that he wanted to talk later on. 

That would come later though. For now, it was still early, and so he just curled a little closer to him, sliding his hand underneath the end of the t-shirt Nate had borrowed so that he could press his fingers to the bare skin of his flank. He stroked his thumb gently along the smooth skin there, smiling as he snuffled quietly in his sleep. It seemed that Nate wasn't all that deep a sleeper though, as the light touch was enough to rouse him, and he blinked tired green eyes up at him after a moment. 

"Hi." He murmured, offering him a small smile. 

"Hey." He said quietly in response, stroking his thumb gently against his side again. 

Nate didn't say anything in return, but he shifted over closer to Brad underneath the covers, close enough that he could tuck his head underneath his chin and bury his face against his shoulder. He usually wasn't one for cuddling, at any time really - whether it was straight after sex or the morning after, or anything really - but he had to admit that this was nice, as he turned more onto his back so that he could slide his arm underneath Nate and drop it around his shoulders. 

"I like you like this." Nate said softly after a moment, pressing a quick kiss to the skin of his collarbone where he could reach.

"Like what?"

"Like this. Just.. not the Iceman, not Sergeant Colbert. Just Brad." He explained.

He got that, he thought as he traced his fingers absentmindedly along Nate's upper arm, just underneath where the sleeve of the t-shirt ended. It was nice to not have to think about any rules or regulations or policies in place that might make this difficult. They'd only ever known each other as Sergeant Colbert and Lieutenant Fick though, so it was nice to pretend that those two people didn't exist and to just be Brad and Nate. 

"You don't really know just Brad." He shrugged, biting his lip gently. Well yeah, it was the truth. Like he'd just said, they'd only ever existed to each other as Sergeant and Lieutenant, they'd never really gotten a chance to know each other as anything other than that. When they had gotten the chance, they'd been living at literally opposite sides of the country and so it hadn't really worked out. 

Nate was quiet, and he had a moment of thinking that maybe he'd said the wrong thing and had just ruined this, but then he pushed himself up onto his elbows so that he could look down at him. He didn't look pissed off though, he just looked.. sad maybe wasn't the right word, but it was the only word that he could think of to describe the look he was wearing, "I do know you, Brad. You might think I don't, but I pay attention." He said softly. He didn't really know what to say to that, and so he didn't say anything, and after a minute Nate rolled his eyes, "You're thirty-two years old, you enlisted in the Marines when you were twenty-one after your parents enrolled you in Military school." He started. He was about to interrupt him and point out that that was information anyone could find out by pulling his file, although he kept going. 

"You're slightly allergic to dogs but you had one right up until you were fourteen. You complain about your family, but you're secretly a mama's boy. You say you don't want kids, but I think that's because you're scared of fucking up a child, not because you don't really want kids. You're slightly obnoxious when it comes to technology, and you're an early riser even when you have nowhere to be. You have three tattoos, a scar on your knee from when you fell off your bike when you were twelve, and another on your shoulder from when you took some shrapnel in Afghanistan. You surf, you ride your bike. You say you're a 'lone wolf' but really you're just afraid of opening yourself up to anybody again after you were burned by your ex-fiancee." 

He felt a little like he'd been suckerpunched, and he turned his face away slightly so that Nate wouldn't be able to see whatever expression it was that was showing on his face. He always thought that he was a closed book, and yet Nate had apparently been able to read him like he had a sign strapped to his back that said 'hi, I'm Brad Colbert, here's all of my personal information'. 

"That's not fair." He eventually managed to say, "Feels a little like we're on uneven ground." 

Nate just smiled, reaching down to comb his fingers through his hair, "Are we?" He asked. 

He supposed though, that Nate was right. He knew that Nate had also joined the Marines when he was twenty-one, that he'd joined up because he'd wanted to make a difference. He knew that he had a five year old nephew, that he'd owned two cats with an ex-girlfriend back in Baltimore, but that she'd gotten them when they'd broken up. He knew that he was allergic to pineapple, that he'd broken his wrist when he was sixteen. He knew that his music taste was a little all over the place, but that his favourite band was Green Day and that he owned their entire discography on CD. He knew that his favourite type of food was sushi, but that he couldn't eat it as much as he liked because he'd nearly given himself mercury poisoning from it before. 

Fuck. He supposed that he'd been wrong, that he knew plenty about Nate that had nothing to do with Lieutenant Fick. 

He glanced back at him with a raised eyebrow, rolling his eyes at the slightly smug look that Nate was wearing, "So will you please calm down now?" He asked, "Because it feels like you want this, but that you're looking for reasons as to why you can't have it." 

That wasn't it. Or.. maybe it was a little. There were plenty of reasons as to why they couldn't have this. They lived on literal opposite sides of the country, to start with. He was still a Marine in a military that didn't allow him to be with Nate, because of DADT. Then there was the fact that nobody he knew was even aware that he had a taste for men as well as women. He knew that his parents loved him, and that they were pretty accepting towards this kind of thing, but he still couldn't imagine going to them and telling them that he and Nate were together. He knew how that looked, but he wasn't trying to look for reasons, he was just being realistic. 

"I'm not looking for reasons, but there are reasons." He said softly, biting his lip gently as he looked up at Nate. 

He tried not to focus too hard on the slightly hurt look that crossed Nate's face at that, because it wasn't like he was looking for excuses. He did want this, he'd always wanted Nate, but they had to be realistic about things here. It was easy to pretend and to come up with all of these plans when the world didn't exist any further for them than outside of this bed, but they had to think about that. Still, maybe they didn't have to do it right now, "Hey." He murmured, reaching up to comb his own fingers through Nate's hair, "Let's talk about this later." He suggested.

He waited until Nate nodded hesitantly, before sliding his hand down to cup the curve of his jaw. He coaxed him back down then to press their lips together, smiling against his lips when he reciprocated. Okay so it wasn't like this was the first time they had kissed - there'd been plenty of that last night - but they'd been drunk last night. This was the first time he'd kissed Nate where the two of them had actually been sober. Last night, Nate's kisses had been filthy. He'd kissed deep and dirty, and he'd sucked on Brad's tongue like he was trying to make him come just from that. Now, the sensation was no less intense, but the kiss itself was almost chaste - in the slightly open mouthed way Nate kissed him, with the way he sighed through his nose as he did.

He ran his fingers through Nate's hair as he leaned up slightly into the kiss, and after a moment he felt the younger man smiling against his mouth, "What?" He asked, dropping his head back just enough so that he could see him. 

"Nothing." Nate answered, although he was still wearing that soft smile as he traced his fingers along the shape of Brad's collarbone. He had really fucking pretty hands too actually - long fingered and slightly delicate looking, even though he knew how strong they actually were. While he was at it though, he figured he may as well just admit that everything about Nate was pretty, "Can I make you breakfast?" Nate asked after a moment, his fingers still tracing their path, "You did let me stay the night, after all. You go shower, and I'll have it ready in twenty mikes?" 

Trust Nate to look at it as him just letting him stay the night, as though it hadn't been for purely selfish reasons. 

"I have a better idea. Why don't I help you make breakfast in twenty mikes, and until then you can join me in the shower?" He suggested. 

The corner of Nate's mouth quirked up slightly at the suggestion, "Alright, sounds good." He said with a small smile, pushing himself up so that he could stretch as he sat on the edge of the bed. He was still wearing the t-shirt that he'd commandeered, but he could just about make out the long line of his spine underneath the fabric as he stretched. Honestly, forget the breakfast, he wanted to pull off that t-shirt and spend the next couple of hours exploring Nate's body without the influence of alcohol. 

"You go ahead, I'll follow you in." He told him, waiting for Nate to nod and trail into the en-suite, before yawning and rubbing his face. He glanced around for the boxers he'd kicked off last night, reaching down over the edge of the bed to grab them before standing and pulling them on. Now that he was up and moving around, he could feel the ache in his muscles, but it was the good sort of ache that reminded him just what they had gotten up to last night. 

He strolled down the hallway once he'd heard the shower starting to run, quickly checking that they had in fact shut the front door behind them last night before relocating to the bedroom, and finding his belt laying discarded on the floor of the front hallway. Damn, he was pretty sure he was never going to be able to stand in this hallway again without thinking of Nate down on his knees for him just inside the front door. He was going to have to move, Nate had just ruined this house for him forever. 

He trailed back towards his bedroom after that, and he couldn't quite hold back the grin when he realised that Nate was singing quietly in the shower. He couldn't make out exactly what song it was, but he'd bet his last five dollars that it was one of the songs from the show last night. 

He was still taken aback by the fact that Nate had been as good as he was - that his singing voice was actually really fucking good, and that he'd been able to keep up with the dance routines without so much as a stumble, especially for the finale when he'd danced in the stilettos. Christ, those fucking shoes. The thought of the younger man in the red leather boots sent a wave of heat through him, and he rolled his eyes at himself before following Nate into the en-suite. 

When he shut the door behind him and stripped out of his boxers, Nate was already in the shower stall, with the water running. The glass walls of the stall were steamed from the hot water, but he didn't seem to be making much progress in terms of actually showering. It seemed that he was waiting on him. 

When he opened the door and stepped in though, he was surprised to find Nate leaning back against the opposite wall of the shower stall, teeth clamped down on his lower lip as he slowly stripped his cock. 

"Fuck, Nate." He murmured, taking a step towards him and reaching across to put his hands on the younger man's hips. 

"You want to touch?" Nate asked, tipping his head up towards him before gasping as he continued to move his hand. 

He groaned quietly as he leaned down to press their lips together in a kiss, knocking Nate's hand out of the way so that he could wrap his own hand around his cock instead. Nate leaned into the touch with a soft huff against his lips, arching up on his toes slightly so that he could wrap his arms around Brad's neck instead. For a moment, that was all that it was, their lips moving together while he stroked Nate's cock. He pulled back from the kiss after a minute of this though, biting his lip gently as he looked down at Nate before slowly sinking to his knees. 

"Fuck, Brad, you don't have to." Nate told him, smoothing his hand gently over his hair as he settled on his knees. 

"I want to. Didn't get a chance to last night." He murmured, shooting a smirk up at him as he dropped his eyes back to Nate's cock in front of him. He was maybe a little nervous, purely because of the fact that he'd never actually done this before. He knew what he liked to have done to him though, so he figured that it couldn't exactly be that hard to figure out. It was just that he didn't want to end up embarrassing himself by giving a subpar blowjob and end up leaving Nate unsatisfied - especially when he'd done such a stellar job himself last night. 

He glanced up at Nate when he smoothed his hand over his hair again, swallowing at the soft look on his face, "Just take it slow. Do what feels right." He told him, his mouth quirked up in a soft grin. Okay, well it seemed he'd been pretty obviously projecting the fact that he was a little out of his depth here. 

He dropped his eyes back down then, biting his lip gently as he wrapped his fingers around Nate's cock, jerking it slowly. He wasn't so daunted by this part, he knew how to jerk off, it was the part that followed that he was a little intimidated by. 

He glanced back up at Nate after a moment as he continued to slowly stroke his cock, inwardly delighting at the soft sounds that the younger man was making under his touch. He didn't do anything more than that until he had Nate actually moaning, his hips pushing into his touch and his eyebrows knitted together with pleasure. Obviously he'd taken notice last night, but damn.. he'd been drunk as fuck last night, so he could appreciate the sight in front of him a little more right now, without the alcohol clouding his memory. 

He waited until Nate had closed his eyes before he leaned forward, dragging his tongue up the length of his cock. The action startled a moan out of the younger man, and he had to work hard to keep the grin off his face as he finally closed his lips around his cock.

He didn't attempt to get too adventurous with it - mainly due to the fact that he'd never actually sucked a cock before and didn't want to end up embarrassing himself by trying to take too much and choking on it. He focused his attention on the head, pressing his tongue to the underside as he wrapped his fingers around what he couldn't fit in his mouth. It was an odd sensation, he had to admit - Nate's cock was hard, the taste slightly tangy at the head where he was leaking pre-come, but for the most part it just tasted like skin. Honestly, it was more the noises the younger man was making that were spurring him on. 

He glanced up at Nate from under his eyelashes as he continued on, taking him down a little further before pulling back and sucking hard at the head like he vaguely remembered Nate doing to him last night. The younger man's hips jerked slightly before he caught himself, and he dropped his head back against the wall with a moan, "God, Brad.. your fucking mouth." He gasped, his fingers sliding through his hair, although it was slightly too short for him to get a proper grip. 

He knew it was sloppy, and he was far too inexperienced for it to actually be that good, but it seemed that Nate didn't have that many complaints about his performance if the way he panted and shivered under his touch was anything to go by. 

He continued to work him with his lips and tongue, alternating between focusing his attention on the head and teasing him with his tongue, and swallowing him down as far as he was sure he could go. Eventually Nate slapped a hand down onto his shoulder, his fingers gripping hard into the muscle, "Fuck, Brad, you can stop. I'm.. unh." He trailed off as he grunted softly, dropping his head back against the wall. 

Obviously Nate had given him a heads up so that he could finish him off with just his hands, but he found that he wanted to finish the job as he'd started. Besides, he was curious. So he just swallowed him back down before slowly pulling back, sucking hard as he went. It seemed that that was enough to push Nate over the edge, and he moaned as he came, his fingers flexing over where they still rested on Brad's shoulder. He'd pulled back enough that he didn't choke as his mouth was flooded, although he turned his head to spit once he'd coaxed Nate through it rather than swallowing. The taste wasn't entirely unpleasant, but he wasn't sure if it was what he was expecting either. Either way, it was an activity he certainly had no problems with repeating. 

He leaned up slightly to press a soft kiss to Nate's stomach once he'd stopped shaking, although the younger man gripped his shoulders again and pulled him back to his feet after a moment, "You were so good at that." He murmured, pressing their lips together in a messy kiss. 

He went easily with it, pressing Nate back against the shower wall as he held his chin in one hand, licking deep into his mouth so that he could taste himself, "Hardly, I'm sure." He murmured, pulling back slightly so that he could bite down gently on Nate's lower lip. 

Nate tipped his head up slightly so that he could brush their lips together, although he wasn't quite kissing him, "Do I look like I had any complaints?" He asked, as he dropped one of his hands down to wrap his fingers around Brad's cock. 

He hummed as he pressed his hips into his hand, closing his eyes when Nate ducked his head down slightly to press his mouth to the junction of where his neck met his shoulder. He let Nate bring him off with his hand, feeling the callouses on his fingers as he slowly jerked him off. Watching Nate come apart under his touch had already been enough to get him halfway to the edge, and so he was pretty sure it was an embarrassingly short amount of time before he was bracing himself with a hand on the wall behind Nate's head, moaning as the pleasure washed over him. It didn't help that Nate had been steadily sucking on his neck as he worked him with his hand, no doubt littering marks across the tender skin of the hollow just above his collarbone. When he bit down over the taut tendon of his neck though, that was all it took to push him over the edge, and he shuddered as he spilled over Nate's hand, slumping against him once he'd gotten through it, "Yeah, that's it." Nate murmured, soothing the bite mark he'd just left with his tongue as he continued to work him through the aftershocks. 

Eventually he mustered the energy to lift his forehead from Nate's shoulder, and they shared a smile as he ducked down for another quick kiss, "Not to ruin the mood, but I'm afraid I don't have unlimited hot water." He admitted with a slight huff of laughter. 

They didn't drag it out as he reached for the shower gel and the shampoo, and they mostly managed to keep their hands to themselves as they quickly cleaned themselves up. Once the water had started to run cold, he shut it off and reached for the two towels he'd brought in with them, passing one to Nate. 

He trailed back out to the bedroom after Nate once they had dried off, and he couldn't help but admire the long line of his spine that he'd noticed earlier underneath the t-shirt. It wasn't exactly the first time he'd let his gaze stray towards Nate, but this was the first time that he hadn't had to avert his eyes for fear of being caught. It was still in the back of his mind that he was a Marine, that realistically he could be kicked out on his ass for what had happened last night, but he just.. fuck, he wanted Nate enough to try and work around that. 

"Here." He told him, pulling open a drawer and digging out a t-shirt as well as a pair of boxers for Nate to put on. Considering he'd meant to stay at his hotel last night, he hadn't exactly had the forethought to stop by there first and pick up some clothes for this morning. He didn't mind though, he liked the idea of Nate wearing his clothes. 

Nate caught the t-shirt when he tossed it to him, raising an eyebrow at the fact that it was a Duran Duran t-shirt. He didn't say anything about it though, he just quickly dressed - pulling on the t-shirt, boxers, and socks that Brad had given him, as well as his jeans from the night before. He did the same before turning back to Nate, and he couldn't help but smile as he looked across at him. It wasn't his fault, the younger man just looked.. softer, stood there in his clothes, his hair damp from the shower. Fuck, he looked so much younger too when he wasn't in uniform, despite the fact that he'd be turning thirty next year. 

He reached out to hook a finger in the belt loop of Nate's jeans, pulling him close, "You look good in my clothes." He told him, settling his arms around his hips. 

Nate just smiled, raising up on his toes slightly to press a quick kiss to his lips, "I'm surprised, Brad. Duran Duran, really?" 

He smiled and rolled his eyes, playfully pushing him away from him, "Shut up. I thought you wanted breakfast." 

"I thought I offered to make you breakfast?" He asked with a smile, reaching out to take his hand as he pulled him close again.

He followed Nate into the kitchen, yawning as he switched on the radio and pulled up the blinds of the back door so that he could see what the weather was like. It seemed pretty nice out, so he figured he'd maybe go down to the surf later on. He knew Nate wouldn't be able to hang around all day, and so he didn't like the thought of sitting here after he'd left not knowing what to do with himself. Surfing was good, he could wear himself out and distract himself from the thoughts that he honestly didn't know when the next time he'd see Nate would be.

"What d'you want?" He asked, glancing back at Nate. 

"Nope, you sit your ass down. I told you I was making breakfast." 

"Fine, coffee?" 

"Yeah, thanks." 

He busied himself with setting the coffee machine up, setting it to make two cups of coffee while Nate looked in the fridge and the cupboard for whatever he wanted to make for breakfast, "Is there anything you don't want me using?" He asked, turning back to Brad from the fridge. 

"No, work away." He told him with a shrug. He was pretty sure he didn't have much in the fridge anyway, he'd probably need to do a shopping trip later on this evening. 

Once he'd finished getting the coffee made, he settled himself at the island in the middle of the kitchen, watching Nate while he worked. He hadn't told him what he was planning on making, but it wasn't too hard to guess that it was probably some form of omelette or scrambled eggs - judging from the fact that he was chopping various vegetables and had taken the carton of eggs out of the cupboard. 

"Hey, can I ask you something?" He asked, leaning on his elbows on the island, "You said last night that you and the girl who'd gotten you into theatre had broken up when you moved to New York, what happened?" He asked, looking over at him. Maybe it was none of his business, but he was curious. 

Nate turned back to him, his face blank for a moment, before he shrugged, "We thought she was pregnant. When we found out that she wasn't, she was disappointed and I was relieved. It sort of just drove it home that we were in different places, you know? It was fine though, it was a mutual decision." 

He nodded and hummed, tapping his fingers on the edge of his coffee cup, "Do you want kids?" He asked, looking back up at him. He could see it really, Nate as a father. He wasn't sure if he could picture him with a son or not, but he could definitely see him with a daughter or two. It made for a nice thought, the idea of Nate with a little girl to dote over. 

Nate just shrugged again, "Maybe some day. Once things settle down." He said with a small smile, "What about you?" 

"I don't know." He answered honestly. Having kids definitely wasn't in his plan right now, but maybe some day. For now, his focus was on his career, on being a Marine. He knew that if the day eventually came that he became a father, that his time in the Corps was up. Not that it was impossible to manage, because plenty of the guys that he'd served with had had a wife and kids at home, but he just.. he couldn't go to war and leave a child at home, knowing that there was a chance that he wouldn't come home. So yeah, kids weren't on the cards any time soon, but maybe eventually. 

Nate smiled at him, shrugging slightly, "Come on, breakfast is just ready." He told him. 

It seemed that he was right in his assumptions that Nate was making some sort of omelette, and he smiled as he passed him over a plate before joining him and leaning against the opposite side of the island, "This isn't going to poison me, is it?" He asked, teasing grin in place as he glanced up at him. 

"I'm assured that it won't. I do know how to fend for myself." Nate teased in response, pushing a fork in his direction.

He turned his attention back to the omelette then, raising an eyebrow as he realised just how good it actually was. He wasn't great at cooking for himself, but he wasn't totally useless. When it came to breakfast though, he didn't get much more adventurous than a bowl of cereal or a slice of toast. Whatever, it wasn't like he had anybody to impress when it was just him in the house, "This is good." He told him, and Nate just smiled and winked in response. 

They ate in relative silence, and he only glanced up at Nate when he was nearly done with his omelette. The younger man looked comfortable and at ease as he leaned against the island, still pushing the remnants of his omelette around the plate. Fuck, he realised with a pang as he watched him, that he didn't want to let him go. He didn't want to let him walk out that door, because he had no idea when he'd next see him once he did. He hated to consider the possibility that last night and this morning didn't change anything, that things would go back to exactly as they had been before. He didn't want the next time he saw Nate to be in two or three years. 

It seemed that Nate was thinking the same thing though, because when he looked back up at him, Nate was watching him with an odd expression, "What?" He asked. 

"Brad, when I leave here.. are you going to Iceman me out, and never contact me again?" He asked.

He was taken aback for a moment, although he quickly recovered and shook his head, "No, I wouldn't do that." He murmured with a shrug. The 'to you' went unspoken - because he had done it before, he'd done it to plenty of one night stands that had been hoping for something more afterwards. He wouldn't do it to Nate though, he couldn't, Nate was more to him than that. 

Nate continued to just look at him, and he wasn't totally sure that he liked the look on his face. Fuck, when had Nate become so hard to read? 

Eventually he sighed and crossed around the island to him, stepping into Brad's space between his legs as he cupped his face in his hands, "I think we need to just lay our cards on the table here, Brad." He said softly, making him look up at him, "I want this. I've always wanted this. Ever since Mathilda.. you have no idea how hard it was, wanting you and knowing I couldn't have you." 

"I know just how hard it was. I wanted the same thing." He murmured as he let his hands drop to Nate's hips, feeling the sharp curve of his hipbones under his fingers. Okay, so it seemed they were on the same page here, that it hadn't been a messy drunken mistake for either of them. That didn't change much though, not about their actual situation, "I'm not easy to be with." He warned him, and he was maybe avoiding his eyes slightly as he spoke, "I'm still a Marine, and I'm not going to give that up for anybody. This can't ever get out, or my career is over. I go where I'm stationed.. for now, that's California, but it could change at no more than a weeks notice. My family don't know that I'm not strictly into women, and I have no desire to have that conversation with them. I d-" 

Nate cut him off by pressing their lips together, sliding his hands around to run his fingers through the shorn hair at the back of Brad's head. He looked down at him once he'd pulled away, giving him a small smile, "You think I expected this to be easy?" He asked, tracing his thumb gently around the shell of his ear, "I already know all of that, Brad. And it's not just you, some of it will be on me too. I don't want to move away from New York, we go on tour fairly regularly so I'm never in the one place for long. I'll probably forget your birthday, and I'll definitely forget anniversaries. It's a struggle to get me to turn off and go to bed, and I'm unbelievably picky when it comes to food and movies." He shrugged, smiling slightly as he looked down at him, "It wont be easy, and I never thought that it would be. But if you want this, I want to try and make it work." 

He ran his hands gently up and down Nate's sides for an moment, before turning his attention back to him with a small smile, "I will warn you; no matter how hard we try to keep this between us, Ray will find out. And he won't let it go, so it would be advisable to block his phone number and email address before it comes to that." 

Nate just laughed in response, quiet and carefree - and he wanted to be the cause of that sound for the rest of his damn life. He smiled as he ducked his head down slightly, pressing his forehead against Brad's, "In that case, I apologise in advance for when he decides to terrorise you." He said with a grin, gently nudging his nose against his. 

"I really can't be held responsible for my actions." He shrugged. He supposed he couldn't be too hard on Ray though, despite the amount of teasing that he didn't doubt was coming his way. This wouldn't have ever happened if Ray hadn't dragged him to see the musical with him last night, so he supposed he sort of had him to thank for this whole thing. Still, that didn't mean that he was going to skip back to base on Monday morning and tell Ray all about it. He had no doubts that he'd figure it out for himself, but until then, he'd leave him to it.

For the next while, they didn't exactly do much of anything that could be considered productive. He'd put their empty plates in the dishwasher, but that was really about all that he'd done. 

After that, they'd sort of just.. lounged around. He'd stayed sat at the island while he watched Nate as he pottered around. It had sort of just occurred to him that they'd never actually been to each others houses before today. Obviously he'd never been to Nate's house in New York, but thinking back on it.. he'd only realised that Nate had never been here either. It was shortly after they'd gotten back from Iraq that Nate had left the Corps, and between the change of command structure and then the string of paddle parties that followed - Nate's included - he felt he'd barely gotten a moment to catch his breath between coming home from their deployment and then saying goodbye to Nate before he moved over to the opposite coast of the country. 

For now, he just propped his elbow on the island, resting his cheek in the open palm of his hand as he watched Nate humming quietly under his breath as he perused the books he had stacked on his bookshelf. It was nice to just watch him like this, at ease and with his guard down. He'd seen far too much of Nate with his hackles raised back when they'd been in Iraq, and he had to say that he much preferred this softer side of him. The t-shirt he'd loaned him was slightly too big on him, he was still just in his socks, and his hair had slightly waved from drying after the shower. It made for a pretty sight anyway. 

He couldn't help but notice though, that his gaze had anxiously strayed to the clock more than once in the last few minutes, "You need to go, don't you?" He asked, looking over at him. 

Nate looked apprehensive as he turned his attention back to him, although he nodded, "Our flight to Portland is in three hours." He explained. He supposed that that meant they'd be leaving soon enough. As much as he didn't want to let Nate go, he knew he couldn't keep him holed up here forever. 

Still, it wasn't goodbye for good though, they had agreed that they wanted to give this thing a go. Maybe they'd actually go the distance, or maybe they'd fizzle out in six weeks and end up calling the whole thing off, but he really wanted to give this their best effort.

"Come on, I'll drive you back to the hotel." He told him with what he hoped was a reassuring smile. 

Nate was unusually quiet as he trailed back into the bedroom to get his shit together, mainly just to locate the rest of his own clothes that they had quickly stripped off in their urgency last night, as well as his phone and wallet which had been misplaced from the pocket of his jeans. He had to admit though, the fact that Nate obviously didn't want to leave either did make him feel slightly better about the whole thing. It would have been a little harder to face if he'd been quietly wanting Nate to say 'fuck it' and stay, and the younger man had been perfectly happy to leave. He could see that he was lingering, trying to prolong the actual having to leave, but he knew that he had to sooner or later. 

Eventually he got all of his shit together, and so there really wasn't any reasons for them to hang around any longer. He'd started to insist that he change back into last nights shirt so that he could give Brad his t-shirt back, but he'd just shrugged and told him to keep it. He wasn't that attached to it anyway, and besides, he wanted Nate to have the reminder of him. They'd agreed to give this thing a go, but he still wasn't sure of when they'd next see each other. So he'd just nodded and pulled his own shirt on too, leaving it open over the t-shirt. The boxers and socks were whatever, he'd just wash them with his own clothes and leave them here. 

He walked down to the garage with Nate, heading over to the car and unlocking the door, although he could see that the younger man was starting to linger again, "What's wrong?" He asked, over the roof of the car. 

Nate just looked at him, biting his lip gently, "Can we take your bike?" He asked. 

"Have you ever been on a bike before?" He asked, although he was already shutting the car door and locking it again. 

"No, but I'm a fast learner." Nate said with a hint of a smile. Ordinarily, he would have insisted that they save it for another time and that they just take the car instead, but he really wasn't sure when they'd next get the chance. Besides, he had to admit that he rather liked the idea of Nate pressed up behind him as he straddled the bike. 

"Alright. I'll get on first, then you climb on behind me." He told him, grabbing two helmets off the shelf behind him before crossing around to the bike. He swung a leg over it, getting settled before turning back to Nate, "You're going to hold on around my waist, and you'll need to sit pretty close, slide up behind me until your knees are pressed here." He told him, pointing to where Nate's knees should be pressed against the outside of his thighs. 

Nate's grin was sly as he did what he was told, climbing onto the bike before sliding up behind Brad until his knees were pressed tight to the outsides of his thighs, and he could feel the warmth of him against his back, "I hope you know that I have absolutely no issues with any and all situations that might have me pressed up against you from behind like this, Sergeant." 

His voice was low as he spoke into his ear, and he could feel a rush of warmth through him at the fact that he could tell that his grin was probably bordering on a little dirty. 

"Rest assured, LT. There'll be plenty of time for that." 

"I'm assured of this." Nate said, although his smile was a little softer as he took the helmet from Brad and put it on. 

They took off once he'd put his own helmet on and had made sure that Nate was holding on tight, although he did take it a little slower than he usually would have. Speeding was a bad habit of his, and his annual insurance on the bike was a little outrageous because of the amount of speeding tickets he'd gotten himself over the years. He knew Nate had no experience on the bike though, and besides; he didn't want to fly down the road and have Nate at the hotel in fifteen minutes. This was nice though, going out on the bike was one of his favourite things, and it was nice to be able to share that with Nate for even a little while. 

Besides, he really couldn't complain about the feeling of Nate pressed up tight behind him, his arms around his waist. 

Sooner than he would have preferred, they reached the hotel, and he slowed to a stop as they pulled up outside. For a moment, neither of them moved, and he glanced back at Nate over his shoulder, "All squared away?" He asked, sighing when the younger man just nodded. 

Eventually he climbed off, pulling the helmet off as he stood to the side of the bike. Once he'd handed it back to him, he balanced it on his lap along with his own helmet, and he had to smile at how wearing the helmet had tousled Nate's hair even further. God, he really was pretty. 

"Alright, well.. have a safe flight." He told him, although even he could hear how useless that sounded. He didn't know how to do this part. When it came to leaving one night stands, he was more used to either leaving the night before or sneaking out early before they woke up. He didn't do this part, and he couldn't remember the last time that he hadn't wanted to let somebody go like this. 

Nate just sighed, reaching over to cup his cheek in his hand. He stroked his thumb gently against the line of his cheekbone for a moment, before moving in so that he could wrap his arms around his neck in a hug instead. For a moment he just held him, his arms around his waist and his face pressed against Nate's neck.

"I'm really glad you came to the show, Brad." 

"Yeah, me too." He said softly, and he meant it. He'd bitched and groused when Ray had first given him the tickets, but he really couldn't say he regretted his decision to go now. He wouldn't have had this otherwise. 

Nate sighed as he turned his face in against Brad's neck slightly, his arms still tight around his neck. Eventually he pulled back just enough to look at him, although he still kept his arms around him, "We have a show in Portland, and then two in Seattle. That's it though, and we have some time off afterwards." He murmured, running his fingers through Brad's hair. 

"Well, that works out. Because I have twelve days of leave saved up that the Sergeant Major is encouraging me to take." He shrugged, letting a slow smile spread over his face. He didn't particularly need to take the days off any time soon, but they were there, and he was more than happy to take them if it meant he got to spend any sort of extended amount of time with the younger man.

Nate smiled as he realised what Brad was getting at, "I can take a trip back here."

"Or I could come to New York?"

"How about we meet in the middle? Meet up in Missouri?"

"With all due respect, fuck that. I'll come to New York." He said with a grin as Nate laughed. He knew that Ray wasn't even in Missouri, that he was living in California and had no plans to even visit Missouri in the near future - as far as Brad was aware of - but he certainly wasn't going to risk it. 

Nate smiled again then, moving his hands back down so that he could cup Brad's face between them, "I really do need to go." He murmured. 

"I know. You have my phone number and email address." 

"Yeah, I'll call you." 

He leaned in to kiss him then, keeping his arms wrapped loosely around his waist. They kept it chaste, mainly because of the fact that they were in public - but it was no less intense. It was sort of in the back of his mind that they were in public, but he really doubted that anyone he knew would be passing by here on a Saturday morning, and besides; he was saying goodbye to Nate here, so for right now he couldn't have cared less. 

Nate held his face between his hands, and the press of his lips against Brad's felt almost desperate, even though it was only slightly open mouthed with the barest swipe of tongue, "God, I'll miss you." He murmured against his lips when he'd pulled back slightly. 

"Likewise." He said softly, gently smoothing his hand down the length of Nate's spine, "Go on, I won't let you go otherwise." 

It seemed that that was enough to get Nate moving, and he stroked his thumb gently against his cheekbone for a moment longer before letting him go. He'd never felt such apprehension in letting somebody go as he watched Nate walking up to the front door to the hotel. He was glad that they'd talked though, because it meant that this wasn't an actual goodbye, it was just a 'see you later'. He'd certainly be putting in for those twelve days off and planning a trip to New York. 

He waved back at Nate when the younger man turned back to wave at him before letting himself in to the hotel. Once he'd gone inside, he kicked the bike back into gear before circling back and taking off down the road, balancing Nate's helmet on his lap. There was no point in hanging around outside the hotel for any longer. 

It only took him ten minutes to get back to the house, and he sighed as he let himself in once he'd gotten the bike back into the garage. The house suddenly seemed a lot more empty after spending the morning here with Nate, but he knew he couldn't dwell on that. Still, he had something to look forward to. Nate had said that they had three shows left of the tour, so he was pretty sure that within the space of a week he'd be able to see him again. He could fly over to New York and then they'd have twelve days of uninterrupted time together. 

He trailed into the bedroom to check his phone for the first time that morning, finding that the battery had died since last night. So he sat on the bed as he plugged it in to charge, switching it on once he had. He huffed under his breath as he realised that he had five unread messages from Ray, from various different times this morning. He supposed he really should have known that he'd already have guessed that something was up. 

**Ray Person, 08.42hrs -**   
_Homes, my guy Justin texted me and said he saw you and Nate staggering out of the bar together at like two a.m._

**Ray Person, 08.44hrs -**   
_Please tell me that means you got some._

**Ray Person, 10.57hrs -**   
_Fuck, dude. You never sleep in this late, hangover or not. I'll take your radio silence to mean that you're still getting some._

**Ray Person, 11.12hrs -**   
_Text me when you finally resurface. And tell Nate I said hey._

**Ray Person, 11.49hrs -**   
_You're fucking welcome._

He smiled and rolled his eyes as he opened a new message, slouching back on the bed as he typed back a quick reply to Ray. 

**Brad Colbert, 13.02hrs -**   
_Thank you, Ray._


End file.
